Vibration
by Silvera Sea
Summary: Naruto was blindly attacked at the age of five. The villagers and shinobi were stopped before they could wound him mortally, but there was one thing that they utterly destroyed: his hearing. But with this limitation new gifts are being revealed to Naruto. Chapter 9 up! Undergoing Major Revision!
1. Losses

**This is a revision to the previous chapter. I just happened to have the chance to reread this, and I realized something... Compared to the other chapters, this one SUCKS big time. Right now, I think I will revise all my other chapters, because they do really need some help. Anyways, this is the fourth fanfiction I have started, and I got the idea from several other stories... I can't recall the name... Anyways, thanks for taking your time to read the intro up here! And just to tell you, this story is taking a ride of its own, I don't know exactly where it is sweeping me off to, but that is for the story to tell right? This chapter (the revision) was posted:** 5-10-09 **^.^ Kinda late... *Whoops!***

**Dis-the-claimer!: **I have no relation to any of the characters in this story, nor the author in this story, as such, the basic principal ideas for this story and many of its characters are not owned by me. They are owned by some lucky person in japan that made this story up. Good for them! *thumbs up***  
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**Vibrations: Chapter 1**

**Losses**

The sky was clouded over, and the lightning struck the buildings. One by one they caught fire, one by one they turned to ashes. The once lit sky now sent a downpour of tears, but the tears never once did stop the flames. It was only until one shinobi came, that the odds started to favor them. The Sandaime Hokage, leading the ninjas, fought with them to save the buildings, and they were winning.

A little boy stood off to the side, watching as his only home was burned on his birthday, October tenth. The boys hair and eyes made some believe that the sunny sky that started the day was absorbed by his face; the sun stayed hidden within the blond hair, and the sky stayed captured within his blue eyes. Although the sky blue eyes now turned to rain as the boys sadness was evident on his face. As hell was being fought back by the shinobi, one piece of it managed to not be seen by their eyes, and the few that did see it, let it drift past them, allowing what was going to take place happen.

The boy slowly walked away from the building that he had once called home. Shadows followed him, their eyes glowed red in the fire light. They slowly smirked as they realized that the boy was left unprotected. They drew their weapons, and those that were drunk among them wielded their beer-bottles as clubs. One man finally gave the battle cry, a drunken yell followed with a curse, and they all rushed forward.

The boy, hearing the noise, turned his head back, before seeing the sight that had become familiar to him. He took only one look before taking of in a sprint, but that would have never been enough, and the boy knew it- he could only delay it for a little while. The beatings. He took turn after turn, yelling for any villagers to help him, and yet they only gave looks of approval to the mob that was forming behind the boy, and some even joined in. The boy made one last turn, before coming to a dead halt. He was in an ally, and the only way out was the way that he had came in.

The villagers, and even some chuunin, had all gathered around the boy, not caring if the Hokage caught them. It was worth it if they could beat up the demon. The boy closed his eyes, and barley felt as the first hit was made. When one hit was made many more followed. He felt things enter his body in multiple places, and didn't even mind when his hearing shut off. After all, who would want to hear threats and people call you a demon? Red soon swallowed the boy's vision, as he was swept away in blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

He woke up to his head pounding, and whiteness. He was floating, floating on nothingness. White was all around.

He saw somthing yellow flash past him. He was pulled into an embrace from behind, and then he saw blackness.

"You are trouble, gaki." Was all he heard, before the blackness was brought down, and he felt as if he had just taken a breath after staying under water.

The first thing the boy noticed as his eyes cracked open, was the blinding whiteness. The second, was the pulsation of his heart, for though he could not hear it, he could certainly feel its strength as his heart spread his life liquid around his body. The strength of his heart pounded throughout his head, causing pain to rack through his brain. As the boy cracked his eyes open, he allowed his senses to widen, taking in all that he could see.

He was in a room that was decorated with the color white, explaining why the room had been so bright upon his first look. The smell of antiseptics washed through his lungs, filling him with the longing of the outdoors, and fresh air. The boy was laying on a white bed, metal fulfilling the purpose as the bed frame. Sitting on a chair next to the bed was the Hokage, who seemed to be talking to himself.

"Oji... Oji-san?" Naruto shut his mouth. He had heard no sound coming from himself, but he could feel a tingling as the vibrations traveled throughout his chest and up his throat.

The old man had been silently fuming to himself '_How could I let that happen? I'm supposed to look after him for Minato, and yet I let this get by me! The doctor said that the mob did some damage to his eardrum, and that they could not heal the injury unless they had someone as skilled as Tsunade working on the injury. But with all their research, they do not know if he will be deaf or not. Now they assume that the Kyuubi may indeed be trying to heal the scar, but with such an amass of demonic chakra located in both eardrums, the medical scanning jutsus are useless. Though I can't help but think something is holding the demon back from healing... though what, I cannot guess. I can only hope that he wont be…' _He was brought out of his thoughts by Narutos' voice, "Naru-" He was stopped by a coughing fit.

"Oji-sama, oji-sama! Are you okay?" Naruto asked, in a rougher voice then usual.

"Yes, Naruto, *_cough_* I just haven't got all the *_cough_* smoke *_cough_* out of my lungs yet." By this time, the coughing had come to a stop.

Meanwhile, Naruto was staring at the Hokage in awe, he understood what the man had been saying, and yet he had not heard a word. When had he gained this new ability? Naruto stared at the Hokage as he continued to speak.

"Naruto, I am sorry to say that the orphanage that you were living at has been burned down, so I am going to give you a *_cough_* apartment to live in. Also, I have told your teacher that you will be gone for several days, so you have time to rest."

Naruto shook his head, "No, oji-san! Can't I go tomorrow?"

"No, Naruto, this is one thing I will not bend on. You need the rest. That's an order from your Hokage!"

Naruto lifted his right arm in a mocking salute, and smiled cockily, "Ay ay! Captain oji-sama!"

* * *

Naruto had gotten used to being deaf, after all, it happened 3 months ago. Never once had he told anyone that he was deaf, or that he couldn't read. Who would nominate, and respect, a ninja that was deaf? From that day onward, Naruto's voice came out more raspy and loud than before, his grades declined, due to his inability to listen when the teacher was turned around, and, most surprisingly, his sight increased. Due to his grades, and the boys sound of voice, many were quick to label him an idiot. What Naruto did not know, was that it was the older generation that had started to call him that, and from there it had spread. Of course, no one knew that his hearing had all but disappeared, and as such, Naruto acted unfazed at the insult.

After 3 months of being deaf, his sense of touch had increased greatly, and he could sense almost anyone who walked up to him. As for the classrooms the boy only got bits and pieces of what the teacher said. Even with all these setbacks, Naruto could not hold a frown on his face, he would become powerful on his own, and gain the respect of every villager in the town. Those hateful glares would stop, and so would the name-calling.

There was more unpleasant news than just his lack of reading and hearing, though. Naruto would have nightmares about what would happen that night. Everyone's faces were engraved in his memory. In his dreams, great hatred came upon him as he wished for revenge. For death. He was always fearful of what might happen if his rage would ever stay with him the following day. He didn't want to hurt those people, it was as if that in his dream he would become a different person. He was scared of that person.

And then, always when that dream would appear, he would see the same yellow flash, and feel the same embrace- as before in that whiteness. He would always hear a voice, saying, " It'll be fine. It'll be okay. No one's going to hurt you. I'll protect you." Then, he would always wake up, crying. He longed for that person to be there, even if he wasn't a real person at all.

He had but one friend, a man that Naruto would call Oji-sama, but in more respected terms, the Sanidame Hokage, who was always there to lift him up.

He started at the academy almost right before the attack, to occupy his time and also to lower his chances of being attacked. He finished the rest of the school year, and would return the following year to redo that year, to make sure that he learns everything, because he had missed half of the year.

This year, he has a new goal. This year, he would make new friends, and pass with flying colors. This year, he would not be dead last.

It's a shame that his chances of succeeding that dream were a million to one. But who was going to tell him? He always kept his dreams to himself. So, as he stared at the academy doors, a new hope had filled his heart, and a bright smile lit up his face as he walked through the door.

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**That's that for this revision, thank ye all for reading!**

**Silvera ;D  
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	2. Hand in Hand

**Yah, I know, this is taking way too long for me to post, but I finnaly have the next cha****p****ter up! Any finfic stories I post will continue, the only exception is for it to be delayed. I will finish all my stories, Dattebayo! HAH! I told you I would have it up within the week (although a bit too late into it) But I did it! HAH!**

**Disclaimer: I will never (frowns) own Naruto... Unless they sell the idea on ebay, then I'll spend all my money on it!**

* * *

**Finally, an actual update on this long forgotten story!**

**Revised: 11/10/12, although it took a lot more than just one day…**

**Seriously, it's ridiculous how long this thing took...**

**I've already revised another of my stories, but for those of you who only read this one I would like to inform you that the previous author's notes will be preserved, and thus the only changes being made are those to the story itself... and the chapter titles**

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"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Vibrations Chapter 2:**

**Good Things and Bad Things go Hand in Hand**

* * *

With his bright blond hair, shining blue eyes and a happy, lighthearted smile one would think Naruto would become the next heartthrob for all female students in his class. But as soon as his name was announced, that first impression went tumbling down a hill until it engraved itself in the mud, never to be heard from again.

It wasn't so much the ridiculousness of the name as it was the reputation behind it. Even if it was the first time these students set their eyes on Naruto, rumor had been passed down from last year's graduates, from older siblings, and from parents. He was said to always play pranks, a few people even said that they were harmful to others. His grades were the lowest in all classes. If you tried speaking to him indirectly he would pretend that he couldn't hear you. A few sympathetic villagers had said that he was short of hearing, but they were few and far in between.

In front of the class the teacher stood overlooking his new students. The teacher wore baggy blue pants tied with white tape around his ankle, a blue shirt with two of Konoha's signature red swirls on the arms, and the iconic green chunin jacket. His brow hair was held up in a ponytail with a Konoha forehead protector displayed proudly on his brow. But his most distinctive feature had to be the deep scar that ran perfectly horizontal across his nose.

The man held up his hand for silence but amongst such a rowdy group of children such a small signal went unnoticed. Resorting to plan b, the man yelled a brisk "Silence!" that made everyone promptly stop whatever they were doing and stare at the disturbance. "Hello class, I am your assigned teacher, Umino Iruka. Most all of you have just started attending the Academy, and are probably unfamiliar with our rules and customs.

"Class gets out at noon every day for lunch, and you are free to roam around within campus grounds for as long as the break lasts. But you must be back in class and in your seat before 1:00 when class starts again. Class ends at 3:00, and you are free to go home to your friends and family. However, for those who are serious about becoming a ninja and want to advance further, you can sign up for our extra-curricular classes that start after school." Picking up a yellow paper placed on the desk next to him, Iruka held it up for the class to see before continuing. "If you wish, you can bring this home tonight and sign it with your parents. It will give us permission to teach you more than just the basic jutsus we plan on covering this year. If you bring it back to class signed by the end of the week, you will be enrolled in after-school classes. You will be responsible for doing all homework activities assigned to you in that class."

Iruka leaned forward, narrowing his eyes. "Though you are in class, all of you are still children. By the end, you won't be. You are responsible for how much you succeed. We as teachers will help you along the way, but you are the ones who are responsible to meet the end goals."

There was a silence as every student took in those words, but Iruka knew that the words were met more with confusion than solemn understanding. By the end of the student's time here, that would hopefully change. "Now, who would like to pass out these papers?"

Naruto, eagerly wanting to make a good impression stood up and walked down from the bleachers. He held out his hand, silently asking both for permission and if permission was given the papers. Iruka looked down at the boy who waited patiently and asked "What's your name?"

Flinching at the question and preparing for the usual response, Naturo spoke, "Ne-Naruto, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka's eyes flashed with recognition. Naruto looked at him and saw the recognition for what it was, and his face fell. He would start to glare at him, just like all the villagers. But Iruka's eyes contrary to his belief did not turn harsh, and he only handed him the papers while saying softly, "Ohayo Naruto, welcome to class."

Naruto's eyes widened and he broke out into a wide grin, "Ohayo, Iruka-sensei!" He yelled, enthralled by his reaction.

"Naruto, keep it down." Some of the girls giggled in the back of the class. "And start passing out those papers."

"Hai." Naruto ran around, passing out papers joyfully.

The day ended much too quickly for Naruto, but when he walked home, there was a bounce to his step.

o.0.O.0.o

It was nearly five, and Naruto went out to scavenge for food. The third had always tried to keep his shelves stocked with fresh food, but unfortunately a rat had found his way into the boy's food stock. Naruto had come across several ripe apples in the woods yesterday that he had eaten, but it wasn't nearly enough for his developing body.

The blond was used to having a limited supply of food. In the orphanage he had only been given the leftovers, after everyone else had gone back for seconds. The little he did get never seemed enough and so he had taught himself to search elsewhere. After a time of learning where to go and what foods to avoid, he always returned successful. There were times he had even found a surplus, and he gave a part of his share to those in the orphanage being punished. One of the ways the headmaster had loved to punish people was to lock the child in their room for a day without any meals.

As it was nearing seven pm, he was able to find a nice half eaten meal on the steps of a restaurant's back door, probably left there for the animals. He was so engrossed in eating the food that he didn't sense the cook come out of the kitchen of the restaurant next door. The chef threw a bag in the dumpster and was about to leave, when he saw Naruto eating his meal. His face immediately turned red. The cook grabbed Naruto's collar and yanked him up, yelling at him and throwing him as if he were a rat.

"Stupid demon." The cook yelled, "You're not even worthy of eating this trash! What made you so high an' mighty?"

"B-but sir!" Cried out Naruto, devastated that it was happening again, "This is the first real meal I've had in days! May I please eat it?"

"You're scooping down so low your begging!" The chef said, and with a louder voice, "Everyone, the great fox is begging!"

Some people who were in the streets began to laugh and jab, going into the ally. People began murmuring saying, "Kyuubi, you demon." Another woman spoke, "It's your fault! You killed my daughter and my husband! It's your fault I'm alone!"

Naruto was confused, what was the Kyuubi, and what did it have to do with him? "I'm not this Kyuubi person!" he protested.

"Kyuubi, Kyuubi." They ranted, on and on, in a chant, moving around him in an evil dance. Naruto saw their eyes turn yellow, their bodies incased in blackness.

Now Naruto's mind was young, but it was already scarred by beatings. In his mind it felt real, but these events could have just as well been his imagination, or a mix of reality and fiction. Sometimes the worst enemy one could possibly have was themselves.

Naruto, not wanting to see the words anymore, put his hands to his ears instinctively and ran away, trying to block out the sounds he could only see. He collapsed from exhaustion, and, not being able to hold himself together, blacked out.

o.0.O.0.o

Teuchi was following his regular schedule and heading home on his regular route, when something not so regular became apparent to him in the form of a young unconscious blond boy.

Dropping his keys and ramen bowl out of shock and anxiousness, Teuchi rushed to the boy's side and checked his pulse, sighing when he felt a steady pulsation under his fingers. The boy appeared to be malnourished, tired and covered in grime, but it was nothing a hearty meal, bath and sleep wouldn't fix.

Gently lifting the boy in his arms and placing him over his right shoulder, the chef slowly made his way back to where his porcelain bowl and keys were. He picked up his possessions, allowing the remaining ramen to pour to the ground, and took off down his regular route once again.

Teuchi was a chef by trade, and much like a medic who took it upon themselves to treat any injured, Teuchi had established his own code of honor to feed any who came to him hungry. In this case, he was the one who found the hungered, but it the end it really didn't matter. His code was simple: he would feed those who couldn't feed themselves. It was why he trained himself to become a chef, after all.

o.0.O.0.o

Naruto woke to the savory smell of ramen tickling his nose. Shooting upright he began the organic instinct of 'following your nose', giving no regard to his obviously foreign surroundings.

Teuchi heard the shuffling sound of his guest waking up and came up from behind, saying the ever classical, unimaginative and unoriginal "You're awake!"

Naruto only continued sniffing the air, waving his face back and forth with his nose pointed forward as a rodent would when searching for a particularly pungent odor.

"Excuse me." Tried Teuchi once again, trying and failing to get the attention of the boy. Getting annoyed at the lack of response the chef reached out and took the shoulder of the boy who was still trying to sniff out the source of the ramen sent, intent on giving him a stern talking to about being rude to one's elders, but stopped when he felt the boy flinch from under his touch.

Naruto jumped as soon as he felt someone touch his shoulder and stepped quickly away from the source, turning so that he had a clear view of his attacker. He kept quiet though. He knew it would only be worse if he spoke out.

Teuchi however was having a completely different train of thought, for as he witnessed the boy jump away from him he came to the conclusion that the young blond was deaf and quickly rebuked himself for having been prepared to yell at an unfamiliar boy just moments before. Having studied sign language not long ago Teuchi asked with his hands if the boy was deaf, asking with his voice for good measure in case the boy hadn't been taught sign language, or wasn't actually deaf, although Teuchi was quite sure he was.

Naruto for a brief moment looked at this man's moving hands in confusion before moving his eye's back to the man's face, catching the last words of a question. Immediately seeing the word 'deaf', Naruto went into denial mode. "Nope, not at all!"

Perhaps his voice had been raised a little too loud, if the wince from the man had given any indication.

"Don't worry, you're secret's safe with me." Teuchi tried to comfort the boy.

Naruto continued staring at the man with eyes that continued to grow. This man was the first to have discovered his secret, when he thought he had kept it hidden so well. Yet even with his growing fear, there was also relief. "Please don't tell anyone, mister. I don't want them to hate me anymore than they already do."

Suspicious over his last sentence, but also quickly connecting the dots as to whom the boy was with his unique whisker marks, Teuchi asked "What's your name, kid?" He wanted the boy to speak for himself, rather than draw his own conclusions.

Naruto cast his eyes downward, weary and sad. He gave a quick desperate plea to whoever was listening '_Please don't let him hate me._' Before he answered and looked up, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, sir." Adding the 'sir' at the end for good measure. Not wanting to see the hate come into those eyes, and knowing that his luck for the day had already maxed out with Iruka, Naruto closed his eyes and waited for the impending beating. Yet as he waited, all he could sense was the smell of ramen growing stronger and stronger.

Hoping beyond all hope and reacting a bit from hunger, Naruto opened his eyes and just took in the magnificent sight of ramen held right before his nose. His gaze never wavered for one moment, and only registered that someone had put chopsticks in his right hand before he grabbed the bowl and began stuffing ramen down his throat. He stopped immediately when a thought occurred to him.

Looking directly at Teuchi with a serious face that looked rather comical on someone his age, he asked "Is it poisoned?"

Trying to hide his shock at the both random question and the horrible implications there were behind it, Teuchi replied with a shake of his head, "No, it's not."

A genuine smile replaced Naruto's serious frown and he quickly thanked the man before turning his eyes and chopsticks back to the ramen.

Teuchi watched at the boy downed the ramen, believing his words. Although he knew he was trustworthy, Teuchi couldn't help but ponder on how ill prepared the boy was for the real world. Though Naruto was quick to question a stranger and his motivations, he believed whatever that stranger told him, not even questioning if what Teuchi told him was the truth. '_The kid has a lot to learn._'

Placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder, he got a much better response than the last time as Naruto only looked up happily, his cheeks bulging from the amount of ramen the boy had managed to shove inside his mouth. "Hey, Naruto, what if I said that you could have a free bowl of ramen every time you came to my restaurant? Would you take me up on my offer?"

Naruto gulped loudly as he stood stunned for the fifth time in the few minutes that he had been awake. "Would you… really do that for me, mister?"

"Of course! Anyone who's hungry is welcome in my shop, although you'd have to pay for the rest of the bowls you eat." He tacked on, seeing how quickly Naruto was devouring his ramen. Thinking for a brief moment, the chef added, "…And you can just call me Teuchi."

"Thanks, Teuchi!" Naruto put his ramen bowl on the floor, the contents already gone, and lunged at the old man, hugging him with all his might. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"No problem." Teuchi muttered, knowing that the boy wouldn't hear it.

Pulling away, Naruto let out a loud yawn. His stomach had been satisfied, and the only thing his body wanted to do now was sleep. The warmth of the ramen in his stomach tempted him to close his eyes right there, but he needed to stay awake for Teuchi.

"If you wish, you could sleep here." Naruto was barely able to read the words through his teary eyes, but he understood and nodded.

"Yes."

Naruto started to make his way to the couch when strong arms lifted him up. Even his tired mind registered the strange feeling, and warmth warmed Naruto's heart. He didn't know where it came from, or why the feeling of being picked up would have this effect on him, but he felt safe for the first time. Like the man's arms would protect him from any danger that came their way. It was so foreign to Naruto, but in that moment it felt perfectly right, and his body quickly relaxed, giving way to the most peaceful sleep he possibly ever had.

'_Poor kid._' Thought Teuchi as he glanced at the now sleeping boy. Naruto's life had to be so difficult because of who he was burdened with, as anyone with a few minutes to spare with him would be able to tell. Teuchi placed the boy back down on the couch, grinning as Naruto began to lightly snore. He grabbed the sheet that hung over the couch and laid it over Naruto. "Sleep well."

Teuchi approached his daughter in the kitchen. "I'll be heading out for a while. Can you keep an eye on our guest?"

The girl glanced curiously upward from where she was kneading dough. "What guest?"

"A young boy named Naruto who's been in some rough times." Teuchi explained. "Keep him safe, he's lost his hearing but he can lip-read, so it shouldn't be too hard to communicate with him. Just try not to startle him if he wakes before I get back. I'll be heading to the Hokage, so I might not return for a while. He's free to leave whenever."

"Okay."

"Oh, and before I forget…" Teuchi searched his coat pocket and pulled out the Ichiraku business card. "Give this to him, will you? I may have only just met him, but we'll welcome him if he ever comes to us."

With that, the ramen owner took up his keys and left the apartment. By the end of the day he would make sure that the Hokage knew what was happening with their village hero.

o.0.O.0.o

Teuchi walked into the Hokage tower with determination in each and every step. Waking to the assistant's desk, he ignored pleasantries and went straight to the matter. "I would like to speak to the Hokage concerning some important matters that he should be made aware of."

The blond assistant immediately recognized Teuchi as the owner of Ichiraku, and though curious over why the owner of a ramen shop would want to talk to the Hokage, she was not one to turn away news of any sort. "The Hokage is very busy at the moment, but if the information you have to offer him is important enough-"

"It is." Teuchi verified without waiting for an answer.

"Then if I could be made aware of what news is so important, I can inform him and ring you in."

Not wanting to discuss Naruto with anyone other than the Third for the personal bias all civilians, and even some ninja, seemed to have towards him, Teuchi kept it vague. "Let's just say that it involves the safety of a highly important citizen of Konoha."

"Want to explain in detail?"

"Only with the Hokage."

The blond sighed and seemed to accept that she wouldn't get any more out of him. Toggling a switch whilst leaning into the mike sticking out of her desk, the assistant spoke. "Hokage-sama, the owner of Ichiraku has a matter of importance he wishes to speak with you about." There was a pause as the assistant listened for the Hokage's response through her earpiece, before addressing Teuchi, "The Hokage will see you now."

Wanting to make up for his earlier abrasiveness Teuchi bowed and said "Thank you for your assistance." He then walked through the doors to the office of the most powerful man in the village, and arguably the world.

"Hokage-sama." Teuchi respected the Hokage by bowing down before him.

The Hokage would have none of that, though, and waved at the man to stand upright. "No need for that right now, not when there are other things to do." He glanced notably at the paperwork piling up on his desk and obscuring the wood. "Now, you said there was an important matter you wanted to bring to my attention?"

"I came to address a matter concerning the container of the Kyuubi. I have no ill intent towards him," The man quickly added, seeing the Hokage's eyes darken visibly. "In fact, the matter I wish to speak to you about concerns his wellbeing."

Teuchi had the Hokage's full attention now. "Go on." The Third said, nodding his head for him to continue.

"I ran into Naruto for the first time today. At first, I didn't recognize him for who he was," Looking back he realized that it should have been obvious when he first spotted the iconic whisker marks. "The boy was malnourished, sleep deprived, dirty, and passed out on the street as I was walking home from work. I brought him to my home, but when he awoke he was very fearful of my foreign presence. I offered him food, and he mistrusted me enough to ask if it's poisoned, but believes what I say regardless.

"Hokage-sama, these events, and the way he has acted with me have me quite concerned for his wellbeing. I understand that the villagers wouldn't treat him well, but he should be better fed than he was! Doesn't he have anyone to look after him?"

The Hokage sighed at the matter at hand. "Naruto's is a very sensitive case."

"But still, I would think that he would get better treatment! He is a hero of the village, despite how most others take it, and that shouldn't even matter for he's still a child!"

"Things aren't that simple, though I wish they were." The Hokage let out a long drawl of smoke from the pipe his teeth clung to, pausing to consider what to tell the ramen owner. "There are people who would use Naruto for the power he has inside him, and others on the council are just as ignorant as many of the villagers and wish to do away with him, even locking him in a prison if it came down to it. It was a fight just to allow him to live as a normal citizen, if his circumstances can even be deemed normal.

"Naruto for the moment lives on his own. His food stock is replenished by only my most trusted jonin, and he is watched constantly. Though he is alone, he does partake in classes at the academy, something I was able to push through even with opposition. Admittedly, I am glad to have even got this far even if I should be raving mad at the injustice."

"I apologize, Hokage-sama, for doubting your abilities. Obviously helping Naruto has been an uphill challenge."

"One I hope whose mistakes will not be repeated." Sarutobi locked eyes with Teuchi. "You are one of the rare few who have actually come to me wishing to help Naruto. Though it may be difficult, I must ask, would you be willing to take Naruto in as your ward?"

Now it was Teuchi's turn to sigh in defeat. "As much as I want to, my finances just cannot handle it. My wife just died this month, and all of the money we had saved up and more is going into her funeral. As much as I wish for Naruto to have a happy life, I don't believe a mourning father and his daughter are going to quite have the desired positive affect that the boy needs. So for now, I must decline the offer, though I could check on Naruto every now and then."

"That would be very much appreciated, yes. And if you could supply Naruto with some ramen from your restaurant, that would go a long ways towards helping him. It would be on my tab, of course."

"I had already offered him a free bowl of ramen for his every visit, though I asked for him to pay for any other bowl."

"With his finances as they are right now, it would be better for any other bowl to go on my bill. Besides, even if Naruto couldn't pay much, he'd still eat you out of a restaurant. He once ate two plates for appetizers." The Hokage chuckled at the memory. "I can offer a little extra to supply for any other needs, as well."

With things resolved, and a better looking future for Naruto, Teuchi smiled for the first time he stepped inside the office. "I will take you up on that offer."

"Good." The Sandaime smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "I myself would have given you income to help pay for Naruto if he was to stay with you, but the strain of the Kyuubi attack, even so many years after, are still affecting the economy, with plenty of money being pulled from my pockets. I was only able to give Naruto what he has now by enforcing my rights as Hokage and obtaining his apartment free of charge." The Hokage took a fountain pen held up on his desk and wrote on a small piece of paper. "This is Naruto's address for when you check up on him. I won't ask for any particular day, but I would like it if you went over at least once a week."

Teuchi walked up and took the paper from the Third's knarred hand. "I'll do that."

"Thank you. It really is a relief to know that someone else is looking out for Naruto." Sarutobi gave the papers on his desk an eye over '_Good heavens, are they breeding?!_'

"I'll be on my way then." Sarutobi only nodded, not really paying attention to the chef anymore. He contemplated summoning fire to be rid of the issue that was on his desk, fearing that the paper epidemic might spread to cover the whole of Konoha. But unfortunately, the papers did not expand right under his distrustful eye to give him a reason to do so. After a moment of inaction, Sarutobi slipped the first paper to the only clear spot on his desk and took up his fountain pen as though it were a sword.

He swore that one day he would catch them in the action of multiplying. One day.

o.0.O.0.o

Naruto woke up with his eyes still closed. Rough fabric met his skin from both under and over him, and as he inhaled he was greeted with the scent of an unfamiliar -though heavenly smelling- household. He cautiously opened his eyes and sat up, slightly annoyed when pins and needles began prickling his sleeping left leg.

For a moment, he regarded his unfamiliar surroundings before his memories jumped into place. He looked around quickly for the old man that helped him but did not spot him. He pondered for a moment, trying to remember his name but decided to just call out, "Oji-san, oji-san!"

He began to walk around the apartment in search of the kind man to thank him once again, when he spotted a young girl. "Who're you, nee-san? Do you know where oji-san is?"

"I'm Ayame, daughter of the 'old man' you were calling to. My father went away to speak to the Hokage about something important, but he hasn't returned yet." She held out her hand, "Naruto, right?" She waited for the blond to grab her hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"You too nee-san!" Looking around, Naruto spotted a clock and took in the time. It was already dark outside. "Um… I should go 'cause it's already pretty late…"

"Would you like me to walk you home?" Ayame questioned. She was proving to be every bit as benevolent as her father was.

"Nah, my home's just around the block. Besides, I've been out later." Naruto stated confidently.

"Well, if you're sure…"

"Yup!" Turning around quickly Naruto made it to the door right as Ayame called out for him to stop. She stepped up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder to grab his attention before he opened the door. "What, nee-san?"

"I'd just like to say on behalf of my father, that you are welcome at any time, whether at our home or at our restaurant, Ichiraku. My father wanted me to give you the address before you left." She handed him a folded square of paper. "Whenever you need, don't ever hesitate to come to us, okay?" She recognized now what her father meant by rough times. The boy looked half starved, even with a bowl downed. She was sure her father would say the same thing to Naruto, if Teuchi hadn't already.

Then Naruto, showing more maturity than he had ever let on, bowed and said "Thank you for the generosity that you and your father have shown me!"

Waiting for him to rise back up, Ayame responded "It was our pleasure to help." '_Stay safe._'

o.0.O.0.o

Walking out of the apartment with his body lowered and flinching as though every step caused him pain, Naruto stated "Why must they be so mean to me?" He glanced around at the few who were still walking around at this time and had spotted Naruto emerge from the building. Their eyes were lit up with hatred, but they seemed to glance over at the door approvingly.

'_I'm sorry, oji-san, nee-san, but if the villagers saw me happy with you, then you would be hated too…_' Naruto had run into few people over the years who would willingly talk to him. When they exchanged words with him, the villagers who had glared at Naruto would glare at the stranger too, as if they were doing something that personally offended them.

Even if he made sure to never see them again, Naruto was still happy of what they had given him. He thought it was only right that since they had given him something so precious, that he would repay them in kind by making sure that the villagers didn't glare at them too. He glanced around and read what some were saying off of their lips.

"Glad they threw him out."

"Who knows what others would do if they saw him come from their house."

"I heard his wife just died."

"The demon is probably trying to mess with them some more by shoving her death in their faces."

Naruto tried to the best of his ability to ignore what others were saying, but though he wouldn't know as long as he kept his eyes on the road, he could still feel their iron gaze penetrate through him. It was as if their hatred was a tangible force shoved onto him, forcing him into oppression. He didn't even need his hearing back, his mind filled him with the words that he knew were running through everyone's mind. He couldn't take it anymore.

He needed to get away.

Naruto ran with all his might. He ran through the streets past buildings and parks. As he ran tears streamed down his cheeks, his breath caught in his throat, and he staggered several times. But he never stopped running.

He arrived at his apartment only to stop and question himself. No, he didn't want to return there, not yet. It was small, hardly occupied, and empty… empty of life, of family, of love. Empty empty empty. Just like him. Just like him. He had to go further. He had to go beyond the gate. He had to escape. He turned around and started to run again, a new destination set.

Why? Why did everyone subject their hatred onto him? What had he done to everyone that made them so upset at him? He couldn't stop running now, he wouldn't. If he stopped, those visible voices would come back to mock him, pain him. He ran through the village gates without thought, running into the woods, only trying to get away.

Why couldn't he have friends?

Adrenalin pumped through his veins. His muscles were strained and his breath came in ragged gasps. Finally, after what seemed like hours, he spotted the wall of foliage, shadowed in secret, in darkness. Naruto needed those shadows, for they were something he could hide in. Unlike most children, he was not afraid of the dark because if he couldn't see his enemies, his enemies couldn't see him.

Naruto tumbled into the woods, stumbling over tree roots, jumping over rocks. He looked behind him, a glance at the village that he both longed for, and knew he could never win. He didn't notice as a branch forced its way right into his path. He only just turned his face back around when he ran full speed into it, knocking his head back and sending him flying into the mud, hitting his head with an audible thud.

Naruto watched as the starlight twinkled lightly down through the leaves of the canopy. He didn't bother getting up. There was no reason for him to head back.

He only wanted to be left alone to wallow in his pain. He removed himself from the mud and crawled into a patch of grass, crawling next to a tree and nesting himself in its roots. Overhead, the tree stood as a guardian, and Naruto fell into a safe sleep, not to awaken until morning.

* * *

**Translations:** P.s. this is my first time doing this, I might forget to do it in latter chapters

Oji-san: Old man

Nee-chan, Nee-san: sister, or sister like figure.

**Weeeeeeee (going in circles) weeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (falls down stars swirling around)**

**Please review!**


	3. Henge

**Hope you guys liked the last chapter, and will like this chapter. I hope the explanation on chakra makes sense, and also the explanation with hand seals.**

* * *

**Revised: 11/ 30/ 12**

**Revision Notes: Yep yep yep! I finally finished chapter 3! Now, It's onto chapter four~**

**Hmm... From an eight page chapter to an eighteen page chapter... Hopefully you guys don't mind the increase in chapter length.**

…

**Hopefully I can manage to keep this pace up!**

* * *

**Vibrations Chapter 3:**

**Henge**

o.0.O.0.o

Cold needles of dew cut through layers of unconsciousness and seeped into his dream, pulling him from the recesses of sleep. Eyes of the purest blue opened up to gaze into an equally blue sky. His clothes clung to his body, damp from the morning dew. His mind jumped back into last night, its events foggy from the dismal line between reality and dreams that comes with waking.

'_That's right. Ayame and Teuchi took me in._' He smiled as he remembered their kindness and ramen. But then the whispers came to torment him, each word spoken visible through moving lips as they flew at him and seemed to pierce his skin. '_But, where am I?_'

Though his neck was stiff from the awkward position he had fallen asleep in, it was easy enough for him to lift his head and look at his surroundings. Trees of various sizes wrapped around the clearing he had apparently fallen asleep in. His body was tucked into the nook of a root, fitting his form surprisingly well.

Placing his hand upon the damp soil below, Naruto pushed himself up and once again took in the view, belatedly wondering why he wasn't cold. A few birds perched on the trees, beak open to sing praise for the new day. As he took in the singing birds, Naruto grew depressed. He would never again have the voice of the birds greet him at the start of each day. '_I'm left in silence._'

Looking at the sun, he tried to estimate what time it was. He had been taught the skill last year at the academy, and it was one of the few things he remembered learning and practicing before the incident. It was a bit difficult for his still waking mind, but Naruto finally decided it was around eight o'clock. '_Shit, I'm going to be late._'

Taking off in the direction of the village, Naruto ran as fast as his short legs allowed him. He wasn't sure of the new teacher's policies, or if he tolerated tardiness, but Naruto did not want to start off on the wrong foot, especially since he was the first teacher to not openly reject him.

His pants and shirt were dirty, and a bit of mud still clung to the back of his head. Yet Naruto knew he would just have to deal with it. He wouldn't be able to stop at home and change unless he wanted to be an hour late, and by then Naruto thought he might as well not show up.

He entered the village and ran past the pedestrians bustling in the street, ignoring the strange looks they sent his way. As he approached the academy, he put on a burst of speed and slammed into the door, opening it far more loudly than was necessary.

He headed directly to the bathrooms, intent on cleaning himself just enough to not be repulsive. Using a few paper towels and water, he wiped himself off wherever he could. Still panicking, he threw the towels away and stormed into his classroom, knowing that there were some spots that he just couldn't reach.

Thirty one pairs of eyes fell onto the delinquent blond.

"Naruto, you're late." Iruka spoke the obvious. "I hope that this isn't a common occurrence with you."

"I'm sorry, Iruka-sensei." Naruto spoke, bowing his head slightly in embarrassment.

Iruka nodded, accepting his apology. "Please take a seat so we can continue."

Nodding, Naruto turned and bounded up the stairs, glancing around for a seat. He spotted one next to an onyx haired boy and went up to it, promptly sitting down. He smiled and nodded at the boy, and though the other didn't smile, the boy did nod back in acknowledgement.

Naruto pulled out a little notebook that was still in his pockets from yesterday. He knew that he wouldn't be able to write any words (he didn't know any to write), but he figured he could still draw things that would remind him of key points in the lectures. It may not have been much, but he hoped it would be enough to keep him at the same pace as the other students, or at least not fall so glaringly behind.

Iruka opened his mouth to speak, and Naruto focused all his attention on the words that were coming out of his mouth.

"Today class we will be learning all about chakra. What it is made of, how it interacts, and how we as ninja can be trained to manipulate it to our advantage." Turning around, Iruka placed a poster against the chalkboard.

On the poster, there was a blue silhouette of a man. He held his hands out in front of him, formed together in a strange sign. A symbol of two different energies combining was displayed on his stomach, and the energies seemed to form together and rise to escape out of the man's mouth, emerging as fire.

"Is that guy barfing fire?" Naruto blurted out.

Iruka's eye twitched, though whether in annoyance or at the energy expended from holding back his laughter few could tell. "No, he is expelling his chakra. His chakra took on the characteristics of flame as it left his mouth."

Naruto cocked his right eyebrow in confusion. "How'd it do that?"

Iruka smiled. "Good question. The chakra emerged as fire because of the hand seals used to perform the jutsu.

"Hand seals are an essential part of chakra manipulation, for while we can control chakra with our minds, there will always be a limit to what we can do. Hand seals when formed create the different signs of the animals of the zodiac, acting as an offering and in turn allowing them to lend us the use of the different essences that they represent.

"Hand seals are the cornerstone of all jutsus, for even if a ninja manages to perform a jutsu without handseals, it would have only been possible through years and years of usage and honing one's chakra. Everyone when learning a jutsu must start with hand seals, or the jutsu will inevitably fail.

"There are twelve main seals in total, each corresponding with an animal of the zodiac. There are other seals, but they usually are specific to a family jutsu or bloodline." Iruka held his hands in front of himself for all to see. He clasped them together, fingers intertwining and palms touching each other.

"This hand sign is known as Mi, or snake. The snake hand seal is most prominent in earthen jutsu."

Seeing Iruka manipulating his hands, Naruto immediately drew a poor line interpretation of the sign for future reference. Next to it he drew a squiggly line with two sharp eyes hardly touching it.

Unexpectedly, Iruka turned around and began to draw something on the board with sharp hash marks. Afraid that he wouldn't get it, Naruto's anxiousness turned to relief when Iruka turned around to speak. "This is the written character for snake. Though we already expect you to know how to write it would be best if you all study these seals for clarification, as these characters will be used in class, and in your future career, often. I suggest you write them down."

Naruto eagerly did just that.

Bringing his hands back into the snake hand sign, Iruka moved both his pointer and middle fingers on both hands to point upward. "This sign is tora, or tiger. It is notably used in many fire jutsus." He once again turned around to write a character on the board.

As Iruka went through all twelve hand seals, Naruto eagerly drew them down, showing the finger positions, the animal, and the character written on the board. There were a total of twelve including: dog, boar, rooster, dragon, rabbit, horse, goat, ox, rat, and monkey.

"Though each hand sign corresponds with a single aspect, its contribution to the jutsu can depend on what seals come before and after it, and how much control you give that particular hand sign over the jutsu. The more chakra you funnel into a single hand seal, the greater effect it would have on your jutsu. For these reasons the progression of seals in any jutsu are particularly important. For example, the use of a tiger seal at the start of a seal progression can indicate a fire jutsu, but a tiger seal after a monkey usually indicates vitality, which can be represented in a jutsu in a variety of ways.

"Learning the seals and how they interact with one another can help with not only creating your own jutsus, but also with predicting your enemy's jutsus that you are unfamiliar with. For example, if you know that the jutsu will cover a wide area it would be better to defend instead of dodge.

"In everything you learn here, remember, balance is the key to being a ninja. Don't focus only on knowledge, build your physical strengths as well. This applies even to seals, don't just know how they work, be able to sign them flawlessly. A ninja can only be a ninja if they practice both mentally and physically.

"This is best represented by chakra, our spiritual energy. Chakra is an energy created from the mix of both mental and physical energy that we build. The more a person has of both, the more chakra they're bound to have. People can be born with naturally large reserves, but that only is gifted to them if their parents had large reserves. But it doesn't matter how much one has when they were born, what matters is how much they'll gain. Even those with the largest chakra reserves can end up being surpassed by those with hardly any. The best way to access one's chakra for the first time would be to meditate.

"Chakra usage was not a natural part of our physic, hundreds of years ago. Through usage of the natural energy of the world, a line of chakra users formed. All of us here are descendants of those users, practically everyone in the village is. But there are still many civilians without accessible reserves, for though chakra makes up a part of every being, the only reserves they have are just enough for them to be alive.

"Let me leave you all with a warning. Chakra is powerful and can be used for many things, but as with anything powerful there is a tradeoff. Before you can risk any Chakra manipulation of your own to create your own jutsus, you must hone your familiarity with your own chakra. For you see-" Iruka turned around and motioned to the poster once more. He waved his hands around, motioning something rising from the stomach of the man on the poster as Iruka's lips were turned away, preventing Naruto from hearing what was being said. He turned back "-if one is not familiar with their chakra limitations. You must practice using all available safety methods, such as using hand seals when first trying out a jutsu. Otherwise, your Chakra will backfire, and in some cases cause irreparable damage to your Chakra pathways."

Iruka glanced around to take in all of his students: most seemed to pay attention, though there were a few with their face down on the desk. He clasped his hands together, the resounding clap making those few students who appeared to be sleeping jolt. Iruka smirked lightly as he began addressing everyone, "That's all I have for this lesson today. I usually don't finish this early, but you guys can take a break until lunch, but you're not allowed to leave this classroom until then!"

Most students turned to each other and began talking, one or two got up to walk around, and the few who were caught sleeping laid their heads down and went back to sleep. Naruto took in these students. He had no friends to talk to, and he was perfectly awake. There was nothing else he could focus on but his own hunger to learn more. With that thought, he opened his mouth to yell, "Teach us a jutsu!"

Other kids who heard quickly picked up his call. Every kid wanted to learn a jutsu for their flashy and powerful appearance. They didn't know why, but they knew with absolute certainty that knowing jutsus would make them cool amongst their peers.

After a few minutes of being bombarded with requests, Iruka finally gave in. "Alright, alright, fine." Because really, what harm would there be in teaching them a low ranked jutsu? Those who couldn't draw on chakra couldn't practice it, and those who could have parents to help teach them. "But this is a onetime offer. Any jutsus you will learn the rest of the year will only be because they are specifically in the curriculum."

There was a resounding cheer as the students had accomplished their task.

"This jutsu that I am about to teach you is perhaps the lowest ranked. It is the first, and easiest jutsu to learn. It would've been taught to you all three weeks from now, but since you insisted…

"However, I must stress that while you can practice the hand signs, I highly recommend that you not try it out, and if you do only do so with adult supervision. If you practice and manage to bring out chakra and practice the technique too much, you are at risk of Chakra depletion. You will get tired before there are any other ill effects, so you must stop immediately.

"This jutsu is known as Henge. It is a deception technique that changes one's appearance to whatever they want. The larger the appearance, the more chakra used. Now there are three seals: dog, boar, and tiger. To properly activate the technique, you must bring your Chakra around your body and form the seals. When the seals change your chakra, hold it underneath your skin." Iruka brought his hands up and began preforming the technique. As he moved through the seals, a disturbance in the air around Iruka became visible to Naruto. Iruka began to speak again, but his hands covered his mouth.

There was a puff of smoke, completely enveloping Iruka. The students gasped as the cloud dissipated, for Iruka was no longer there and in his place was the Third Hokage. "There are other extensions to this jutsu but they are classified as separate jutsus." The 'Third' spoke out, his voice mimicking the Hokage's exactly. "By holding an image in your mind of what you would like your appearance to be when performing the jutsu you can become what you imagine." Iruka released the henge, a lot less smoke emerging from his form as the chakra fled from its position around his body. "Now go to lunch!"

Like water running off a cliff, the children poured down from the bleachers and zoomed through the door, heading outside as the academy bell struck. An aura of excitement buzzed around the students as they thought on what their teacher had taught them.

The children rushed to their parents waiting past the academy steps, smiling and cheering as they eagerly proceeded to dump all that they learned on their parents. The parents only caught a few words here and there, but they smiled and nodded, just happy because their child was happy. Large smiles formed on all faces, and love emanated from the peaceful scene.

o.0.O.0.o

Naruto watched as happiness settled on those in the courtyard, washing over the group like a wave and rushing past, ignoring him as he sat alone on the academy steps. For the first time in a long while, Naruto wondered who his parents were. He didn't just question their names, he wanted to know exactly _who_ they were, what they were like, what made them… _them_. There was only one other time he questioned this, when he first learned exactly what a parent was from the Third when he was four.

He had heard other kids talking in the orphanage, pointing to other orphans and guessing how possible it would be for them to get adopted by parents. One had pointed to him and guessed 'Never'. Naruto had cried even though he didn't know exactly what the insult meant, and had rushed to the Third who had come for his weekly inspection of the orphanage. At his account of what happened, the Hokage had gently picked him up and described to him just exactly what a parent was.

That was the first time Naruto learned that his heart could know pain.

Now, as Naruto stared out at the happiness shared amongst these families, the pain returned once more. The blond gritted his teeth, clenching his shirt above the heart and questioned to himself '_Why does it hurt so much?_' But he knew that he wouldn't get an answer. He'd never get an answer.

He didn't question why his cheeks were wet.

Needing to focus on something else, Naruto decided that he would head out into the forest once again. He walked with his head bent low, ignoring the looks the residents were sure to pass his way, ignoring the words that he might have otherwise seen passing their lips. He passed the gates soon enough, and before he knew it he was back in the clearing he had been the night before.

It was the perfect place to train. It was secluded and far from any judgmental eyes. It was quite here he knew from the time he had come here before the accident, so there wouldn't be as many sounds for him to miss.

Nothing had been disturbed from this morning, the only things marking the presence of a human were his own footprints in the mud. Naruto doubted anyone would disturb this place.

Naruto sat on the tree root that had acted as a bed for him, evening his breathing and thinking upon Iruka's lesson. The first stage to forming a jutsu would be to gather Chakra, and the only way to do that would be to meditate. He groaned inwardly, he hated sitting still.

Resting his hands on his knees, Naruto steadied his breathing and calmed himself. He focused on breathing inward, holding his breath for a few seconds before releasing it. He crossed his legs to get in a more comfortable position, and focused his attention inward.

He didn't know how to access Chakra, and even if he managed to sense it he didn't know if he would recognize it for what it was.

Naruto only focused on his breathing pattern, leaving the rest of his thoughts blank, centering himself. Several minutes passed, and so far Naruto only just managed to remove any irritation. Then, he felt something stir. Startled, Naruto jolted and the feeling was gone. But now he had felt it, and he knew he could access it. He tried once again.

This time when it stirred, Naruto grabbed onto the feeling with all his might. For a brief second he thought it would elude him, but then the feeling was no longer his mental representation but the actual thing, grasped in his power, and he was pulling it out and out. Although where he was pulling it out to he didn't know.

The Chakra felt like cotton as he pulled it through his self, it seemed to fill him as he continued yanking it. Instead of the movement he expected to feel, pulling out his chakra only seemed to strengthen the presence of chakra in his body.

Opening his eyes, now sure that he wouldn't lose the Chakra again, Naruto saw his body covered in a faint blue glow. He jumped up and down as his eyes lit up in excitement, yelling "Yatta!" for the world to hear.

After his brief enthusiasm wore off, he stopped to glance at the notes he had written for himself. He practiced the hand seals: dog, boar, and tiger. Again: dog, boar and tiger. And again. He took note of how his hands were shaped, and adjusted them so that they were mimicking exactly what he saw Iruka do. Dog, boar, and tiger.

Then, he felt like he was ready.

Naruto centered himself once more, this time feeling his Chakra stir much more quickly and drawing it out just as quick. He held the chakra over his skin and began making the seals. Dog, boar, and tiger. He felt the change in his Chakra instantly, and brought it under his skin. He didn't know when, or even if he should let it go, he had missed what Iruka had said on the subject. But he did know that he had to picture what he wished to look like.

In his mind he formed the image of a boy with straight, neck length silver hair, aqua eyes, and an average sized teenager body that had obviously been working out. A clean white shirt, baggy black pants, and plain sandals completed the ensemble.

The image was of a fighter, Rei, who was a hero in one of the comic books Naruto had glanced at when passing a book store. It was the first thing that had come to mind, for Naruto knew that the hero in any situation would always be adored.

As the image formed in his mind, Naruto felt his chakra move without his doing, trying to force itself to escape his body. Naruto held it back with all of his willpower, but even then some managed to escape. Surprisingly though the Chakra didn't disappear, rather it just seemed settled on his clothes.

When nothing seemed to be changing, Naruto added more chakra, trying to speed up the process. It apparently worked, but he must have used too much chakra, for his mind darkened just as he felt his limbs and skin stretch outward.

o.0.O.0.o

Upon coming conscious, Naruto immediately noticed three things. The first was that it was night, the second, he was hungry, and the third, he felt bigger. The sky was black and stars poked through the canopy, moonlight providing the only useful light source to see by. As he stood, Naruto's mind registered that he was taller than before, and he quickly questioned why.

Looking down at himself, Naruto felt his eyes widened. His body was no longer Naruto, but Rei. It had to be, for his skin was paler, and even his clothes had changed. Naruto felt the back of his head and grabbed hair longer than it should have been with his right hand, and his eyes (which had to be aqua blue) widened.

He ran to the small river that surrounded Konoha, being briefly surprised by his improved speed, and looked down at his reflection. Rei looked back.

Naruto brought a hand up and touched his face, this illusion was real, _he_ was real.

His stomach reacquainted him with his hunger.

Naruto glanced back at the village, leaving his reflection behind. He jumped away from the river only to be astounded at how high he traveled. It wasn't only his appearance that had changed, he had gotten stronger as well!

Wanting to test his new limits, Naruto coiled his legs before pushing off the ground, traveling far higher and farther than he had thought possible, as if he had grown wings. In that one leap he had already cleared thirty feet away from the river.

Naruto then sprang straight up, wanting to see how high he could go, aiming for a branch above him. At the pinnacle of his jump, he grabbed onto the tree branch and dangled there, looking at the ground below. '_Awesome!_'

Then fatigue hit like an earthen jutsu. '_I can't wait… to tell, Iruka-sensei._' His eyes drooped, his fingers loosened, and his grip started to slip. His eyes were closed when his hand fell away, and his consciousness was too long gone to detect the pain by the time he hit the ground.

o.0.O.0.o

Water incased him like a warm blanket. He heard drips of water around him, his mind not even questioning the presence of the sound. Darkness was everywhere.

He felt gravity above him, pulling at his head, and instinct kicked in. He pushed himself around in the water, kicking himself in the other direction to head upwards. As his head passed the surface he gasped, his lungs so numb it felt as if he had not taken a breath in a long, long time.

He put his hand down on the water, and was surprised when the watery darkness repelled it. Testing with his other hand found that this principal applied to it as well. He tried to arise, and found that the surface of the liquid repelled him completely, not allowing him to enter again. As he stood in disbelief of his predicament, warm air settled on him and only then did he realize how icy the waters grasp actually was. The warmth that he had felt when in the water had only been deceptive.

Darkness seemed to cover him from all sides, but as he looked something appeared out in the distance. A small entryway, with tiled walls, ceiling and floors appeared not far in front of him, lit with a light source unseen.

As seconds turned into minutes, Naruto realized he had greatly misjudged the distance between him and the entryway. He began running in a full sprint, and after a few minutes without exhaustion arrived at the hallway.

The entrance was nearly fifteen feet across. Coming down from the darkness above into the light were different colored pipes of various sizes. Some were thin and painted a light blue, others were slightly bigger and painted a blue as deep as the ocean, while the largest ones appeared a violent red. The pipes emerged from the ceiling to submerge again, only to reemerge several feet down the hallway, twisting and turning and hanging without any visible supports like an unorthodox ornament. Stones made up the walls and floor, each stone shaped differently and colored a slightly different hue of brown. Some stones were rough, some were smooth, others sharp, but they all seemed to mesh together despite their variety. There was also water here, but it took the form of murky puddles dotted here and there, and Naruto knew instinctively that this water did not hold the dangers of the dark water behind him.

Naruto glanced back behind him, but nothing was visible, for the darkness seemed to eat any light emitting from the hallway. He turned back to look down the hallway with no visible end, and he started to walk.

Immediately he felt his body temperature rise.

As Naruto walked, he started to pass doors of different variety that dotted the walls at times with different levels of frequency. Some were made of wood, others stone or iron. Some seemed to have locks, others none, and some were barred so thoroughly that there was a lock, a bar, and iron chains locked around them. After his first few tries and failures to open different doors, he decided that what he needed was down at the end of the hallway, not through any other passageway.

After what felt like hours, for time seemed to run differently here, Naruto stumbled upon the end. He could see a large wall yards in front of him blocking any further passage, but he also spotted something else.

As he drew nearer, deep vibrations hummed through the ground and through the soles of his feet, up his legs and spine, and settled to vibrate his brain. As he drew nearer step by step, the sensation grew stronger. Soon, he could see a hazy cloud of the purest blue, so bright it appeared white in its center. As he drew nearer to the haze, he could see something moving in its depths, surfing its flow, but he could not make out what it was exactly.

Then the vibrations were strong enough to rattle the teeth in his clenched jaw. His breathing became labored, and his heart spiked in acceleration. His body moved faster on its own, his mind only relaying to him the desperate _need_ to be where the light was.

Then he was there, surrounded by this haze, this light. Everything was now white. His body stopped completely, as if somebody had thrown the switch, his body waited for the final release.

Then he saw the form of a dragon outlined from the white light in blue, what he had spotted before moving in the light. It flew around him, dancing and humming with the light. And then it faced him, blinking its black eyes once, before rushing towards him. Naruto panicked, wanting to move, but his body did not obey him.

As it drew nearer, it appeared to Naruto as if the dragon's eyes were sad. And then it flew through him.

o.0.O.0.o

"Hokage-sama."

Sitting on a hospital bench just outside the emergency ward, Sarutobi stood as a nurse called for his attention. Only one question was on the forefront of his mind "How is he?"

Earlier that evening, he had received news of Naruto. Apparently a chunin on patrol, making his rounds around the village wall had spotted Naruto on the ground, head at an awkward angle and body as cold as death. He had thought him dead and brought him to the hospital for autopsy. But as the surgeon had started to observe him, a miracle happened.

Naruto's heart had begun to beat.

The surgeons immediately set to work on saving the boy, not wasting a minute in surprise as a life hung in the balance. The Hokage, who had been sent for before, had been informed of the miracle and he resolved to stay in the hospital until Naruto was either saved, or declared dead.

"All his documented injuries are as follows: His neck is broken at vertebrae C6, ribs 2, 3, and 4 on his right side are broken, ribs 2 and 3 piercing the right lung. The right side of his pelvis bone is all but shattered, and his heart tissue is ripped from over exertion."

The Hokage sucked in a sharp breath, hardly believing the extent of the boy's injuries. He thought he had been told that Naruto was _alive_.

The nurse smiled and guessed correctly what the Hokage was thinking. "But he's alive. Despite how far gone he really should be, he's alive." She repeated, as if she couldn't believe it herself. "This is beyond a miracle. Medically, he would have been declared dead. He technically was dead when the chunin found him, for his heart wasn't beating, his neck snapped, and his blood had run cold.

"Then how could he have possibly survived?" The Hokage asked incredulously. In his field he had seen many close calls throughout his life, but this… No one should have survived from this! "No offence towards you or your co-workers, but I had been lead to believe that we didn't have that type of capability amongst our medics."

The nurse's eyes turned wistful. "But that's the thing, _we_ didn't do anything."

"Then how?"

"As the medic was going over the autopsy, there was a surge of Chakra. It was not the type of Chakra commonly found in humans, but it certainly wasn't the beast's Chakra as well. It was much, much different. If I could put a word to it, I'd describe it as almost… _angelic_, I'd say." Inside her eyes, the spark of hunger grew brighter. "It emerged from Naruto's Chakra coils in his stomach and wrapped around his injured body. It went into his heart and forcibly moved it, something that would have been quite painful if the boy's nervous system was active to feel it. But it did the trick. It has now enveloped the other damaged areas and has been repairing them as we speak.

"Hokage-sama, I am not sure if this was a gift sent by the gods, but it appears as if the boy is invincible, if not practically impossible to kill."

The Hokage scoffed at the word invincible, but he could understand the awe behind it, as it mirrored his own. "An invincible boy? Impossible, but perhaps something close to it. Are there any guesses as to where the Chakra came from?"

"Nothing has been confirmed as of yet. However, we have run a DNA dating of the '_angelic_' Chakra coils, and they are not a natural part of the boy's physic. It seems to have been put there exactly around the time the Kyuubi's Chakra was stored. As we probed further, we found that the chakra regenerates itself, but cannot increase in quantity over how much it already occupies. It seems to only wish to take up a certain amount –and a small one at that- of the boy's soul, nothing more, nothing less. It is the direct opposite nature of the Kyuubi's Chakra, which continually tries to take over the boy by forcing a tidal wave of chakra through his coils.

"We have also found that the Chakra and the Kyuubi's Chakra act as two opposing forces. Though the Kyuubi's Chakra is more plentiful, the potency of the '_angelic_' Chakra matches his blow for blow. The two Chakras are continually fighting against each other. This force would tear the boy apart, if it were not for the boy's own Chakra. His Chakra acts as a muffle between the two. However, in order to do so, his Chakra must be more potent than both Chakras combined to make an effective wall. Since his chakra was facing this problem since birth, it has effectively evolved to meet the challenge."

The nurse's eyes seemed to light up even brighter, "Hokage-sama, if we could just study this Chakra, think of how many lives we could save. We have to-"

"No." The Hokage interrupted, he would not have the medics go down that path even when considering the benefits. "It would be wise not to tamper in things beyond our understanding. After all, it already cost us the Kyuubi."

The nurse sighed, resigned. "Understood, Hokage-sama."

"Good. Now, what will be the long term damage of his injuries?"

"As far as we can tell, none." Despite the time she had been given to get used to it, the idea still rang a notable note of surprise in her voice. "The damage to his heart had practically healed when I left, and already it was past what we expected. With so much repaired, we can only deduce that his other injuries will heal just as fully. His mind had not deteriorated at a fast rate, so most, if not all cognitive abilities should remain intact."

The Third sagged with relief. "I am pleased to hear this. Do you know what happened to put Naruto in such a condition?"

"The chunin found him a little less than a mile away from the east gate. There were a few leaves and twigs, and some broken branches above him that indicated that Naruto had fallen from a great height, hitting the solid roots below. We do not know how he got up there, but his injuries most likely resulted from an accident, not someone's ill intent."

'_We'll see about that._' The Hokage was understandably doubtful. When it came to Naruto, it was never absurd to suspect ill intent, for most all his recorded injuries had been from the intent of others, not from any accident. "Thank you." Sarutobi addressed the nurse, before sitting back down on the bench as the nurse left; it had been a long day.

What had happened to the ANBU he had assigned to watch Naruto? "Rat!" The Hokage called out.

Immediately hopping through the windows, a ninja dressed in all black stood right in front, a white mask with red markings to depict a rodent hid his face as a hood hid the rest of his hair and skin. He bowed to one knee and ducked his head, "Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"I need you to find Bird. She is to meet me in my office immediately. If she does not arrive within fifteen minutes, she will instead come with her resignation… that is if she still wants to be a part of this village."

"Hai." The shadow seemed to stream back out the window, disappearing into the darkness.

'_I'll find out who is behind this.' _Thought the Hokage, _'I'm so sorry, Naruto.'_

o.0.O.0.o

Inside the emergency room, where frantic doctors were observing, healing, and recording their findings excitedly, Naruto slept. In his mind a white dragon, outlined in blue sparked with yellow electricity. The dragon swirled around him, whispering things in his ears, phrases that Naruto could not make out, no matter how hard he tried. The words sounded as if they formed directions, but to what he had no idea. Whatever it was, it sounded important.

However, one word jumped out at him, one that made his breath catch in his throat and his face pale. But no matter how hard he concentrated, he could never make out another word. Only one was revealed to him, just one…

'_Son._'

o.0.O.0.o

**So, how do you like the turn of events? Should I have the yondaime survive, or should I just have a message for Naruto? I do want him to find out about his heritage though. So, tell me what you think!**

**Translations:**

Gomen nasai: Sorry

Hai: Yes

Hebi: Snake

Tora: Tiger

Saru: Monkey

Oushi: Ox


	4. The first memory

**Sorry. I rushed it because the internet turns off at 8:00.**

**Thanks everyone that added this story on alerts, or me on author alerts. I'm surprised at how many people put this story to their alerts, so thank you everyone! Also, Thank you everyone who helped me with the Japanese translations! Thank you harryetty for reviewing and stating my mistakes. I'll try and patch them up quickly. I know I made some serious mistakes in this chapter and the chapters before, so I will try to clean them up as best as I can. Sorry for the confusion.**

**Oh, and also Naruto takes notes by drawing pictures of what is being said. I know most of the stuff he learns he will have to memorize, but things like the different hand signs, he could draw pictures of the animal and hand shape, (yes, I know it takes awhile to draw and stuff, but please give me a _little_ slack.) I also said in the chapter before as an example that he drew the map of the fire nation. I know he cant write down the names, but knowing the landscape is pretty important as well.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

_Flashback_

**Vibrations Chapter 4:**

**The First Memory**

* * *

Bird had finally shown up in the Hokages' office. The Hokage glanced at the stopwatch in his hands.

"If you had been a minute later, you would have been denounced." Said the Hokage.

Bird, dressed in her ANBU robes could not be distinguished between a male and female, as is what ANBU clothes are designed to do. Many of the male population underestimate female ninjas, sometimes giving females the upper hand. Without them knowing which gender their opponents are, male ninjas tend to automatically assume that they're female, because of the males' superior gene, giving the ANBU the upper hand. Birds ANBU robes flowed gently, billowing around her figure. "What do you want, Hokage-sama?"

If the Hokage had not been trained, he would have not noticed the very slight sneer that came along with her saying the respectful suffix, making it insulting instead. "What I want to know, Bird, is why Naruto was left unwatched, and nearly _died,_ when it was your shift to watch him."

"My orders were as stated, 'watch the Uzumaki boy in the village. Make sure he does not get into trouble.' My orders never stated that I had to watch the boy when he left the village. When I saw him leave the village, I went to attend to more important matters then watching the Kyuubi brat train in the forest. I assumed, since the orders only stated that the boy needed to be watched inside the village, that I was free to attend to my matters."

The Hokage chewed on his pipe, thinking how to respond, "First, you would do well to learn to treat me respectfully. Second, I will not have Uzumaki Naruto be referred to the demon in my presence, you would do well to learn the difference between them. If I hear you call him the demon once more in my presence, I will permanently denounce you to a normal civilian, never again to walk as a respected ninja in Konoha."

Bird stared. The threat was large, and the Hokage serious. If a ninja had to become a civilian, they would be in bankruptcy for many years. There are many things a ninja can do, carving wood and selling foods is not one of them. A ninja would have to learn a trade from scratch, or imagine a way of helping civilians with chakra, that is, if that spot weren't already taken by the genin. The only other option was becoming a missing nin, and that never worked out good. The only way of gaining money being a missing nin, was capturing or killing other missing nin, as a bounty hunter.

Bird did not know what was so special about the Kyuubi brat, but she didn't want to find out from the Hokage. "Hai, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage smiled. He had not heard a hint of disrespect in her voice. "Now, for your punishment, you will not be allowed to do any S or A-ranked missions for a year. I know it seems harsh, just for a few hours of ignoring your duties, but a life was at stake, and it should not be taken lightly."

Bird closed her protesting mouth and bowed her head in defeat. When you are a ninja, the ones that make the most money are not the highest ranked ones, but the ones that have the highest ranked missions. The higher the mission, the higher the paycheck. "May I take my leave?"

"Yes."

Bird jumped out the window, her robes disappearing into the blackness of the night. The only thing that could be viewed was the white bird shaped mask, looking like a floating head moving on the village rooftops.

* * *

The Hokage himself escorted Naruto when he arrived back in class. The students eyes Naruto suspiciously, trying to find out if Naruto was sick or injured. He appeared to be neither. Most of them thought he had gotten into trouble, since Naruto appeared to be physically healthy, though none of them had heard anything bad happen lately. They viewed the Hokage go up to Iruka and began to talk to him. Naruto was left alone, staring at the rest of the class. He rubbed his neck unconsciously, right where his spinal column had snapped. The class stared back.

Naruto had not known what to say since the accident. He had been quiet, even when the Hokage had asked him what happened. All he could think about was where he had gone when he passed out, and the dragon, calling him son. It had taken three days for Naruto to wake up from his coma, the Hokage had told him. He had come near death, and nothing short of a miracle saved him. Naruto was ordered to stay in the hospital bed for two days to recuperate, and, surprisingly, Naruto followed those orders without one complaint. It had nearly been five days since the accident, and the last time he was at the academy. Naruto had caught up on his learning's, because the Hokage had personally chosen a teacher that briefed him on what the other students learned, if Naruto remembered right, his name was Ebisu.

Iruka nodded once at the Hokage, signaling that their conversation was over. Iruka walked over to the class a bit more, centering himself in the room, "Class, five days ago, Naruto was in an accident. I would appreciate it if everyone was nice to him and treated him respectfully."

The whole class took their eyes off Iruka for a second to look at Naruto, simultaneously the class though, _'He doesn't look injured.' _

"Now, Naruto, from what the Hokage told me, you have caught up with the class, was he right?"

Naruto, who had never taken his eyes off Iruka-sensei, nodded.

"Good, now, take a seat, please."

Naruto looked at the bleachers, and finally sat down next to a lavender-haired girl. The girl had startling white eyes, completely lacking pupils. This time, he only gave his partner a friendly smile and nod, not knowing if all students were like the onyx haired boy. The girl returned the smile, and Naruto sat down.

"Now class, the first thing we will learn today is a ninjas greatest tool, can anyone guess?" No hands were raised, "Alright then. A greatest tool a ninja takes advantage of is deception. Many ninjas use this to take advantage of their opponent. For example, if a ninja acts loud, brash, and a fool, their opponent would think they were facing a low ranked ninja, and use their lowest ranked jutsus' against an opponent who may be of equal skill, or even of a higher rank. If their opponent acted smart and strong, their enemy would try and use their strongest attack to bring him down, or at least try give themselves a opportunity to runaway."

Naruto, unlike most of the six year olds, paid attention, hanging off of every word. Then he smiled, taking the words to heart. He would follow those rules, never underestimating his opponent, while making himself look like a fool. He would act that way in the village, too. That way, if any ninja tries to attack him, they would only do low ranked jutsus and not injure him much.

He knew he would never stand a chance at defeating a ninja, and he couldn't hurt this village even if he wanted too. His only friends were here, and even though they were the only ones nice to him, the village had to have done something right, to raise such a nice people. Plus, how could he wish harm on people suffering so much. Naruto knew that the villagers were only harming him because they wanted something to take their anger and grief out on, but the only thing he could not understand was why they all picked him. He saw their grief in their eyes as they attacked, and if Naruto had not been wearing a similar mask, he would not have noticed it buried deep underneath their hatred. He wanted to help everyone, so he would do the only thing he could do, he would smile and try and make them happy, he would try and make them forget their grief, if only for a moment. Unknown to Naruto, this was the character trait that fueled every successful Hokage's will of fire, their passion to not give up, to keep on fighting, to become a sacrifice. Knowing that their helping the people they love is enough, enough to keep them going, as it is now driving Naruto, giving him the willpower to keep on living.

Naruto felt the vibrations of the room as everyone got up, shaking him from his thoughts. To Naruto, with extra sensitive senses, it felt like an earthquake. He followed suit himself, getting up quickly before sprinting towards the door. "Lunch Break!" He screamed as he went out, remembering what Iruka said about the disguise. Now was as good time as any to start, right? The students looked at him as if he was insane. First, he was quiet, and then he yells like a lunatic. Naruto plastered a big smile on his face, knowing it was better to appear a happy fool then a depressed one. People tended to hang around, and like, happy people. Maybe if he were happy, people would hang around him more often.

* * *

The courtyard where student ate was positioned in the back of the academy. It was a clearing of grass, the edges cluttered with trees. On one of the trees, a simple swing was tied, with two small ropes and a plank of wood. It swung lightly in the wind, ignorant to all the other kids who were playing and eating in the courtyard. It was made for the smaller children to play on, but after it has aged awhile, it looked old and rejected. It was old enough, and worn out enough, to be considered part of the tree itself. It swung in the wind, memories swinging around on the wind that had lifted them up from the swing like leaves, blowing around the courtyard, till finally spotting one that was immediately accepted by the memories. The wind whispered to the blond boy, and the boy turned in the direction of the swing, wondering who was calling him over there.

Step by step, the boy felt something rise in him as he walked towards the swing. When he arrived, he sat down on the seat, holding each rope with his hands. His gaze traveled upward, towards the canopy of the tree. Something about being in that position just felt… right. His eyes widened slightly as he felt a jolt of electricity go through him. His vision flashed once, each item becoming the color contrast to what it was. His eyelids fell forward, and he fell asleep.

The wind blew around his face, and into the trees. The wind directed certain leaves to rattle in an order so that they whispered. The wind blew back down from the leaves, it gained a greenish hue before going towards the blond boy, and straight into all the openings in his face, his ears, and his nose.

* * *

_A boy traveled around the courtyard, looking at the area. He had bright blond hair, crystal blue eyes, and a set, strong jawbone. He looked exactly like Naruto, except he had no whisker marks. His eyes fell on the tree where the swing was. "Cool, a swing!"_

_The two boys who were hanging out besides him looked at him, the one on the right of the blond said, "Come on, its just a swing! It's a child play-thing."_

"_But swings are cool! My mommy once told me that swings held whisperers, whisperers that would travel through time and set things right."_

_The two looked at the blond, confusion written in their eyes, but before they asked anything, the blond boy expanded on what he said. "Whisperers are the winds. They could hold memories, or people's souls. The souls traveled on the winds of time. Certain swings held whisperers, because my mommy told me whisperers liked the motions of swings, of swaying back and forth."_

_One of the two sighed, "We're gonna' eat over there." The boy didn't care for his friend's tale of myths. He pointed in the other direction, near some tables that were placed in the grass clearing. "You gonna' join us?" He asked._

"_Yep! I'll be there in a moment." The other two waved as they left, but the boy paid no attention to them. He felt the wind caress his face, and ruffle his hair, before blowing in the direction of the swing. Knowing it was calling him, the boy stumbled over to the swing, before sitting in it. He glanced upwards at the leaves, and whispered, "Mom, I don't know if this one is yours, but I love you." The wind swirled around him, and the boy though he heard something, a whisper on the wind._

"_I love you too."_

* * *

Naruto jerked awake, escaping the vision he just witnessed. He had felt the boys feelings, the feelings of loss, but also, a feeling he had never experienced before. The feeling had filled his very being with joy. He had felt secure, and peace. Naruto cried for the sake of the boy, nobody needed to feel that state of loneliness, he never gave a thought about his own loneliness as he mourned. But he mourned for one other reason, he did not want be taken away from the other feeling, but as he tried to grasp it, it slipped through. The warmth in his heart left and the familiar coldness returned.

As he sat in class that day, Naruto could hardly pay attention. His thoughts kept lingering on what happened to him. He could make no full conclusions on what happened, but he had a feeling that it had to do with the 'whisperers' that the other boy had talked about. But Naruto could not, for the life of him, figure out who the boy was.

That night, Naruto went into the forest again to practice the Henge. But as he tried to draw on his chakra, something stopped him. 'hmm…' he thought, thinking more deeply and complex then a child of six should be thinking. He sat down, meditated, and tried to feel the pull of chakra. When he did feel the chakra stir, he reached out and tried to grab it. Instead of feeling the warm cotton, a hard, cold barrier was met. He dived again, but again a dome of steel blocked his path. He sighed, and mentally dived again, but instead of feeling for chakra, he mentally thought around the dome, trying to find a crack in. Just when he was about to give up, an unnatural warmth entered a small part of his mental grasp. He poured all of his will into that thin crack, and grabbed his chakra. He pulled it out, slowly, so that the chakra would not stretch too thin and snap like small elastic rubber-bands' do.

The warmth of chakra enveloped him, and he glowed with pure power. His hands moved to make hand seals, but he stopped. He felt a motion to the left of him. He turned in that direction, and about 50 feet away, he saw a deer get back up on its feet. The deer rubbed its nose against its flank, trying to get rid of its injury, and preceded to walk away.

'_That's odd, I normally only feel something, at most, from 10 ft away.' _Naruto pondered on that thought. The only thing that had changed about him was that he was covered in chakra. _'Wait, did that have something to do with it? Maybe I was able to feel more because I had chakra surround my body!' _coming to this realization, he grinned, he had an advantage that no one knew he had! He didn't know if it would help, but he told himself to not tell anyone else. Who knew who would find a disadvantage to this new power?

* * *

The bird perched 40 feet above Naruto looked at him curiously. The bird hopped off its branch, and flew lower, so it was only 20 ft away. Another bird joined the first, also taking interest in the boy.

The bird who arrived at the branch first turned to the other. 'What are oo doing?' sang the bird in question.

The other bird answered him. 'wa'hing the 'uman oy.'

'What?' the bird crooned.

The bird made a gulping noise. 'Sorry, 'unch. I said I was watching the human boy.'

The two birds fell into silence again, each watching the boy with different thoughts. The one thing that ran through both of the birds head, though, was the thought of the blue energy radiating off of the boy, filling the clearing with static.

* * *

Naruto looked around the clearing. His eyes fell on two birds, and he smiled as they turned away, as if kids being caught taking cookies out of the cookie jar.

"It's alright, I don't mind you watching!" He called over to the birds. Naruto was surprised when one of the birds preened his feathers in embarrassment from being caught, the other turned back to watch Naruto, crooning in delight. One of the birds had a red chest and brown wings and back, a robin, and the other was a midnight blue raven.

"I don't mind an audience." He almost whispered to himself. In fact, he wanted an audience, no one had ever seen his achievements before, but it would be great, just once, that something else was watching him, even though it was only two birds. He sighed as he realized that he had to go home soon, otherwise it would be dark, and hard to leave the forest. He turned to his audience, "I'm sorry, but I'll have to be going soon, so I'll make this lesson short."

Naruto began to speak out loud, trying to teach the little birds all that he had learned from Iruka-sensei. He knew the words would be wasted on them, but if he could recite some things correctly by memory, he would know he got it down. "So, a ninjas greatest tool is deception, so take advantage of it, wise birds!"

As Naruto was saying this, he did not see how the birds were leaning in, keeping their ears wide open, nor did he see the way they glowed with pride when he called them wise birds.

'I like him.' The raven whispered to the other bird.

The robin didn't respond, focusing strongly on the blond-haired ninja wannabe.

* * *

As the moon rose high in the sky, Naruto headed back to his apartment, careful to avoid any bars and drunks. The last time he had run into a drunk, well, lets just say it wasn't pretty. When he was still living in the orphanage, he was often times kicked out at night, for causing mayhem in the cafeteria. He had grown accustom to traveling through alleys, and street fighting with bullies. He now knew every nook and cranny of Konoha like the back of his hand. Naruto weaved in and out of alleys, taking the shortest rout possible. When he got home, he tiredly changed out of his clothes into his pajamas, and forced himself to set the alarm clock. He flopped himself onto his bed, not even bothering with getting under the covers, and fell asleep.

* * *

A pound of knocking brought Teuchi out of his thoughts. Wondering who it could be so late at night, he traveled over to the door and opened it. A smiling Hokage stood on the other side of it.

"Hokage-sama! What a surprise!" Teuchi kept the door partway closed as he looked at his house. To be honest, it was a mess, he hadn't cleaned it up for the week yet. Looking back at the Hokage, Teuchi said, "I'm sorry my house is messy, but I didn't get any message that you were coming.

He opened the door fully, and the Hokage walked in. "Please sit down, I know its nothing much, but its home." Teuchi stated, waving his hands at the couch.

When both the Hokage and Teuchi had situated themselves comfortably with a nice hot cup of tea in both of their hands, the Hokage started to speak. " It's nice to see you again, Teuchi. I am here merely because I want to see how you're holding up with Naruto coming around."

"Umm. Actually, there seems to be a problem." Teuchi said sheepishly as he closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his head. "Naruto hasn't come around to visit my shop since the last time he was here. I was going to go to your office latter this week, but I guess you beat me to it."

"That's strange, normally Naruto's happy when he can get free food. I'll have to go and ask him about it later tomorrow, no doubt he's asleep right now."

"Yes." Teuchi agreed with him. "Can you keep me informed? I may have not seen him for long, but I can tell he's a good child."

"I will. Thank you for caring for him, not many would."

Teuchi growled, which was unusual for the man, he knew what the Hokage meant. "Unlike these blind villagers, I can tell a Demon from an innocent child, and I can tell you, Naruto is no demon, I would say he is the exact opposite. He is a hero of this village."

"I'm sure the Fourth would be glad that at least one person respects his last wishes." The Hokage stood up, "I had better get going now. Nowadays I need to sleep earlier because it is easier to get the paperwork finished in a reasonable amount time."

Teuchi stood up with the Hokage, and followed the Hokage to see him out, "Thank you for seeing me, Hokage-sama. Please give my families regard to the boy."

"I will." The Third stepped out the door, and disappeared from sight.

* * *

The next night, Naruto was found looking at the pictures of a picture book the Hokage had given him. He set the book down and put a torn piece of paper in between the pages. He stood up, and headed for the bathroom door. As he went there, he slipped on some pieces of paper, and put his hand on the wall to steady himself. He felt the wall vibrate, which was normal because of the heating, but he also felt harder, irregular vibrations as well as the humming ones. He ran towards the door, knowing someone was knocking on it. When he opened it though, he was surprised to find himself looking at the Hokage. "Oji-sama?"

"Hello Naruto, can I come in?" The Third gave Naruto a big smile. Naruto opened his door and the Hokage entered, and he shut the door behind him as he faced the Third.

"I need to get back to the office soon, so I'll get to the point. I heard about the deal Teuchi gave you, I was wondering why you didn't take him up on the offer."

Naruto stayed silent for a while, before slowly replying. "I didn't want people to see him talking to the 'demon'."

Sarutobi stood shocked. "Naruto, they wouldn't care if they got bad publicity because you came to eat there. They only want to do it to make you happy."

The Hokage heard a few snuffles, and saw a few tears come from Naruto's eyes. Naruto cried out, "Why, why would they care for me?" Sarutobi bent down to Naruto's height, and gave him a bone crushing hug, "There, there." He whispered , trying to calm Naruto down.

They stayed in that position for awhile, until Sarutobi found out that Naruto had fallen asleep. Giving a small chuckle, the Third picked up Naruto and placed him in the bed. "Goodnight, Naruto." And with that, the Third left, leaving the apartment with a peaceful silence.

* * *

**And that was chapter four. I seem to be on a roll for awhile now. I normally don't post this often. Please tell me what you think, and that you for reading!**


	5. Of Carts and Dragons

**I am so so soo sorry I didn't have this story posted for a long, long time. I had terrible writers block. But I know thats no excuse, gomen. I hope this will put your fears of this story being discontinued at rest, and I hope to update soon again (although I know you probably don't trust me). Also, I want to apologize to Naruto, who I seem to love to beat up. I just want you to know that its not true. This is all based on a plot.**

**Since I didn't update in awhile most of you probably forgot about this story, so I will write a conclusion of the story so far.**

**In a tragic assault, Uzumaki Naruto lost his hearing at the age of five. Though he told no one else about the loss of his hearing, he still worried that someone might find out. Now, he is age six, and has a new teacher, Iruka-sensei. Under his teaching, Naruto has managed to gain access of his chakra, and even created a fearsome Jutsu, that he himself has no idea that he created. In a life and death experience, he unlocked a compartment in his mind, though he had no knowledge of it, while the Hokage and the doctors that discovered the heavenly chakra thats in him are trying to unravel its mysteries. The last chapter ended with Naruto finally agreeing to visit Teuchi once in awhile, and that is where we begin.**

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

_Flashback_

**Vibrations Chapter 5:**

**Of Carts and Dragons**

* * *

"You are now dismissed for lunch!" Iruka's voice carried over the bleachers towards the kids in the back. Suffering from another earthquake, Naruto climbed down the bleachers with the class, only to get smacked in the face as the class door was quickly closed from the children on the other side.

Naruto sighed, "Thanks, guys." He said sarcastically. He opened the door and went out the corridor to the courtyard in the front. He saw other children take out their lunch, and Naruto wondered if he should scout and try to find some half eaten garbage, when last night came into mind.

Naruto smiled at the memory, and cheered inside his head. Maybe, for once, he could get a decent meal!

'_Alright, first stop, Ichiraku's!'_thought Naruto.

It would be his first time visiting there since that night on the street, and Naruto couldn't wait to see if the ramen they cooked there was as good as people said.

* * *

Teuchi and Ayame glanced up from their work when they heard the flap to their shop open. The shop itself was carved into the building, but it was an outdoor shop, so the fresh Konohana air could circulate their kitchen. There were stools instead of booths, and a counter instead of tables. The shop had its own sense of privacy, because red rubber flaps covered the entrance halfway.

"Naruto-kun!" Ayame squealed when she say the child. She ran to the counter and leaned over it to give Naruto a hug.

"Hi Ayame nee-chan, Teuchi oji-san." Naruto said, leaning over Ayame's shoulder to wave to Teuchi. Ayame let go of the boy, and went to stand next to Teuchi, looking the small boy over.

Teuchi came up beside the counter ruffling up Naruto's hair, " So you decided to come, huh?"

Naruto frowned, trying to explain himself, "I, well… I just…" He sighed, "I'm sorry." He hung his head down.

Ayame slapped Teuchi's arm, making sure Naruto didn't noticed.

'What?' Teuchi mouthed to her. In response she gestured towards Naruto. The pieces clicked together in Teuchi's brain _'Oh!'_ He looked back at the blond boy, and put his hand on his head so that the boy would look up and be able to read his lips, "Its fine, I'm just glad you finally decided to come over and learn how great my ramen was!"

The blond boy looked up, that smile once again plastered on his face, "Yah! Whole bunches of people said this stuff was fit for the gods!"

The ramen owner chuckled at Naruto, "You bet it is!" he looked around the place, before muttering, "Makes you wonder how I can't get enough money from this shop." He shook his head away from the thought- there was only one more matter to deal with before he went back to cooking. "And Naruto?"

"Yes?" The boy replied.

"If there is ever, _ever_, a time you need either my, or my daughters' help, we will always be here for you. You got that?"

Naruto knew then, that he would not have to rely on himself any more, and could now lean on the shoulders of others for help and comfort. Most importantly, he wouldn't have to be alone anymore. Naruto brought his hands up to his forehead in a mock salute, and said, "Yes, sir!"

"Now, what ramen would you like to have to start?"

"One miso ramen please!"

* * *

Rubbing his stomach which bulged slightly, Naruto sat back, "That was the best meal ever, oji-san!"

"What did I tell you about my name, gaki?"

"Sorry, Teuchi."

It was quiet for a few minutes. The only noises to pass through both pairs of ears (Ayame had left awhile ago to do the dishes) were the sounds of the street. People passing by, with the slight sound of rocks and dirt crunching together under their feet, a girl crying because of a skinned knee, bells chimed as street merchants tried to gain the attention of the people passing, women gossiping on the other side, and despite the bustling city, birds also gossiped between themselves on the telephone lines.

A cloud of dust rose where the street was at its busiest, and where a cart rolled itself onto an empty spot on the street side, but instead of the cart being made from wood, it was made from stone, yet it was colored a deep burgundy, with markings to make it look like wood. The merchant opened his cart as it came to a stop, the cart itself was the stand, apparently. The cart folded in on itself, three segments attached by hinges. As the merchant opened it, small finger puppets bounced up and down, held by strings. Each one was decorated exquisitely, made from the finest wool. Yarn made up each puppets hair, on a few some even had beads too. Besides the finger puppets, there were stuffed animals, and even child sized ones. Only the two side sections held the puppets, however. The middle section had an open space cut into the stone, the edges so finely detailed that it looked like wood. Red velvet covered the opening in the stone, a sign that said 'closed' hanging there. A message carved above the curving stone crevices labeled it 'Theater' with finely written cursive handwriting.

The owner shuffled around his puppets, picking some up and put them through the curtain onto the other side. He opened up some drawers on the bottom of the two cart segments, and pulled up some folded wooden chairs, and set them in front of his shop, facing the theater.

Naruto, feeling an oddity in the noise that the citizens normally make, turned around and peered at the portly man. He had a few wisps of light brown hair on his head, though it didn't cover his head any more then a moth-eaten hat. On top of his head, he wore a red baret, with a golden tassel hanging slightly from the top, the hat barely able to cover the top of his head. He was wrapped in baggy brown shorts, and his top matched his hat, red, and golden trimmed.

Interested in what the man was doing, Naruto gave a wave half-heartedly to Teuchi, and walked to the cart, standing slightly to the side of the chairs. Teuchi watched him go. He looked at the seats, as of right now, there were no customers. _'What the hell.'_ He thought, and walked over to Naruto.

The 'Portly man' Naruto had dubbed him, stood up from his work and shut the drawers. The last glimpse Naruto had of the drawers' contents was the daily supplies of a sewer. There were at least twelve different spools of yarn, the one that stood out the most was crimson red. There were also several sewing needles each different lengths, and last he saw a large pair of titanium scissors with a plastic handle.

With the drawer tightly shut, the owner gave a quick look at everything, before disappearing behind the small shop.

By now, the owner's activity had started to gain more attention from the villagers, and a few had even left the main intersection of the road to see what he was doing. Hardly anyone noticed Naruto.

From behind the theater curtains, the old owner began shuffling through his stuff. Curious, Naruto went around the small puppeteer shop, following the owner. He found him with his back to him, mumbling, while putting on a puppet on his hand.

"Oji-san!" Naruto yelled, "What are you doing behind here?"

The owner gave a jump, startled. He turned around and looked at the boy. "Do you always call people that?" He asked, his voice had no hint of malice, it was a normal, lighthearted sound.

"Yep!"

The man chuckled, "What's your name, son?"

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Yelled the boy, "You better remember it!"

"I will." The man gave his word lightheartedly, thinking that there was only the slightest chance for them both to meet again. "I'm Pierre." He held out his hand.

Naruto took it, "Nice to meet you!"

The crowd in front of the shop grew louder, looking at the dolls and animals, puzzled as to where the owner of these handcrafted puppets went.

Both Pierre and Naruto looked at the curtains, which held behind it a growing crowd.

Pierre glanced back at the blond and put his hand on his shoulder, "Hey, Naruto." The boy turned when he saw Pierre's lips move and felt his hand on his shoulder, " How would you like to help me?"

* * *

"Hey, look!" A young child, perhaps 5 or 6, pointed to the theater. The crowd turned, and saw an arm of felt poke out from behind the curtains. Soon, half the figure could be viewed. It was a small boy, wearing blue pants and a tunic. The felt arm touched the 'closed' sign, and turned it around so it said 'open'. The boy finger puppet was quickly withdrawn after that.

Another puppet came out, an announcer with black hair this time, and a hand over a big black microphone. A voice emitted from behind the curtain, carrying throughout the wind. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen!" The announcer had as much enthusiasm as a circus ringmaster. "Welcome, to the _FINEST, _the _GREATEST, _the _MOST MAGNIFICENT _**Theater Show EVER!**"

The man disappeared, and the curtains were pulled up as music seemed to start out of nowhere. A puppet wearing an unknown ninja headband showed up. The puppet introduced himself, and the story started. The ninja had been sent to rescue the Hokage's daughter, a fine young looking maiden who had been captured and was now being held for ransom. Halfway through the story, the man had rescued the maiden, only to get attacked again and again from the enemy as they tried to make their way home. Throughout the story, the man started to fall for the maiden, and her him. The climax of the story came when the boss enemy ninja started attacking, and even summoned a dragon to attack. The man defeated the ninja after many painful injuries, and brought the maiden back to the village, where the two happily wed.

The children and the parents remaining to the stories' end clapped as a sign was held up that said 'the end'. The curtains closed for a second, and opened again as the owner's head and shoulders appeared.

"Thank you, dear audience, for your attention tonight!" The mans head said, "My names Pierre, " The head slightly bowed, "And I can't forget my little helper, ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, Naruto, who helped out with the special effects."

Naruto, embarrassed, came out and bowed. He closed his eyes and smiled, not wanting to see the reactions of the villagers, but if they were open, he would've been surprised.

The villagers glared at the boy, but clapped nonetheless, forcing a plastered smile on their face. After all, this man didn't know that the boy that was helping him was a demon. A few of the guests decided they would warn the owner, Pierre, from hanging around the demon boy.

Pierre and Naruto came around the shop, and Pierre glance down at Naruto. "You did a great job, kid."

"Thanks, oji!" an enthusiastic squeal came Naruto. He had enjoyed playing with the water for rain, the red tissue paper for fire, and throwing stones for earth based jutsu's. His most favorite part was when the main enemy ninja showed up, because that was when most of the jutsus were used. "Oh, and sorry about the rock."

"Its quite all right." Naruto had to throw rocks towards the enemy ninja one time, but one stone rolled off his fingers and hit Pierre in the eye, ruining his concentration for a moment. Luckily, Pierre seemed to have been used to this, because he just shrugged it off and continued to voice the puppets as if nothing happened.

The curtains closed quickly, once again closing off the back of the cart of the view of the audience.

"I don't normally do this," the owner said, scratching his cheek in thought, "But, since you've been such a great little helper, why don't you choose a puppet for yourself? On the house, of course."

"Really?" Naruto had never received a gift before, unless you counted the time when Teuchi gave him ramen on their first meeting.

"Yup, really." Pierre smiled, "Are you going to stand around all day with you mouth open, or are you going to get a puppet?"

"Thanks oji-ji!" Naruto ran around the cart, and looked at the shelves full of puppets.

The shelves seemed to be overflowing with puppets of all different kinds. There were people; black people, white people, tan people, little girls with black hair, fat old men with brown hair, ninjas clothed in black. There were also many kinds of animals; elephants, giraffes, foxes, wolfs, and bears, just to name a few. There were even mythical creatures like dragons and unicorns. There were puppets with beads, hand puppets, puppets with sparkles, each puppet finely sewn to the highest quality, all hand made by the owner of the shop.

Naruto's eyes took this all in, looking at each animal, each human, with no direct looking puppet in mind. Then without thinking, he closed his eyes, spun around, and reached to the highest point he could, and grabbed a puppet. The cloth felt warm and cottony, and smelled a bit of musk. It had a long, slim body, and felt to be an animal, not a human. Naruto slowly opened his eyes, and was surprised to find out that it was an animal after all. It was a dragon, made from shiny scales. The dragon had red eyes, and was covered in black, except for the stomach, and the veins of the membrane of the wings, both glowing silver.

Naruto smiled, looking at the stuffed animal, and knew that this was the right one.

* * *

The birds above Naruto, the ones from yesterday, bristled.

"Is that the…?" The Raven could only hope to make out a small whisper as he gazed on the toy in the boys hands.

"I don't know." The robin whispered back, for even though most humans couldn't understand birds, they had to watch out for other birds. "I really don't know."

* * *

"Oji, oji!" Naruto went to the theater, where Pierre had turned it into his counter, where he had his cash machine placed. "Oji! I choose this one!"

"Really?" _'Interesting choice, Naruto.'_Pierre took the stuffed dragon, and looked at it, one last time. "Goodbye, my friend." He muttered, before ringing it up in the cash register, to make sure the machine knew it was out of stock. He handed it to the boy, "Keep it safe, Naruto, and make sure nothing happens to it."

"I will!" Naruto looked around, not knowing what the man meant by that, and saw that Teuchi was waving him over. "I gotta go, Pierre-san, I'll see you the next time you're in Konoha!" He smiled and waved, before turning and running towards Teuchi.

"Bye, Naruto!" Pierre yelled, but Naruto never looked back.

* * *

"Teuchi-oji-san! Look at what Pierre gave me!" Naruto held up the dragon proudly.

Teuchi looked it over, "Did you get that for helping him?"

Teuchi had viewed the stage, and saw when Naruto disappeared behind it, at first he had been worried, but then he smiled when he saw the show start. He knew from the beginning that Naruto was helping out. He watched the scenes play out on stage, and had smiled.

Naruto nodded, and Teuchi smiled, "You did a good job." He praised him.

"Thanks oji!" Naruto smiled a big, goofy smile. He looked around, finally realizing that he had been gone for a long time. He was almost afraid to ask, but he asked, nevertheless, "Um… What time is it?"

Teuchi looked at his wristwatch, "About 1:30, why do you ask?"

Naruto blanched, "Cause I'm late!" The boy took off, heading towards the academy.

Half way to the academy, Naruto slowed down, and when he arrived at the academy, he stopped altogether and stared at the mahogany doors. The roof was covered in wooden shingles, all died red, while the academy itself was carved from a white stone.

Naruto wondered if going in was worth it. He was at least an hour and a half late. It's not as if he could go in and continue as if he knew everything that has already been said. Naruto sighed and turned around, heading towards his sanctuary, the forest.

* * *

The ANBU, Bird, was walking through the town, on a self appointed mission to buy groceries for herself. As she shopped, she thought of what she had done. With each thought leaning more and more toward the demon brat, Bird found herself growing angrier and angrier. When had the Kyuubi found a way into the heart of the Hokage? _'It's not fair,'_the ANBU thought, _'the demon gets everything, while he tears everything away from us.'_

As she thought about that, she viewed the one in her thoughts running towards the woods. She put her basket of food down. "I'll get that later." She told the manager, and followed after the boy. It was time someone dealt with the problem. And Bird knew that no one was watching him now. He was the mouse, she was the eagle. He was her prey.

* * *

Naruto stumbled into the forest that was now becoming his home. He smiled as he looked around the trees. Light shined through the canopy, and the leaves filtered the light of the sun. A beam of light hit Naruto's face, and he knew he was welcome.

He walked towards the roots of the biggest tree around the clearing, and set his stuffed animal on the widest and flattest root connected to the tree. "I'll give you a name latter." He said to his first toy. He walked out into the middle of the clearing, and sat cross-legged. He emptied his mind, and began to probe deep within himself for his Chakra.

Before he was able to surface his chakra, though, a disturbance in the steady ring of the earth separated his thoughts from his body. He looked up, and saw a woman standing in front of him.

The woman had dark, purple hair pulled back into a ponytail, and black feather markings all along her cheeks. Her features were all proportionate, and her eyes glowed with a fierce yellow hawk-like gaze. All that hatred directed at him.

Her clothing consisted of a blue, long-sleeved belly shirt, and long black ANBU pants. She wore no accessories, besides a par of eagle earrings, made of gold and silver, and a kunai pouch resting on her right hip.

"Uzumaki Naruto." She addressed him.

Naruto stood, reading her lips as if it was a book. He tensed, prepared to run.

"I'm about to do the world a favor." She almost whispered, but Naruto could still read it. "I'll go down in history." She spoke louder, "I shall do what the oh so magnificent Fourth couldn't do."

She reached into her kunai pack, and brought out a kunai. "Prepare to die, demon!"

She lunged.

* * *

**Again, I am very sorry for having this chapter being so delayed. I think I'm beyond the point of no return. And if anyone has any other of my stories of story alert, I'd like to inform them that I'm almost done with the next Across Dimensions chapter. Also, I just had another idea for a one shot between Naruto and Kushina, and I'll post it as the next chapter of 'A Lullaby for a Stormy Night'.**

**Again, I am very sorry for the delay.**

**Silvera Awai**


	6. Words of Hope

**I know, even with out your reviews, that I seem to be going on a repeat. Naruto getting in trouble, Naruto almost dying, or already dead, and then a new technique. I promise the next chapter (not this one) will be different, because I will have him start making friends. Then, later on, I hope to have a time skip to genin exams. I hope this story doesn't seem to repetitive to the readers, because that means I failed my job as an author. Also, I'm sorry if the speech between Naruto and the Third is too... shabby? Pathetic? Stupid? (you'll see when you read it) I had a little trouble with it, but I wanted that speech, or something along the lines of that, to be said to Naruto, so thats why I made another murder attempt.**

"Speach"

_'Thoughts'_

**"Demonic, Higher Power Speaking"**

**Vibrations: Chapter 6**

**Words of Hope**

* * *

She lunged.

The boy stood still, looking at her.

She brought her arm back.

One word echoed in the boys mind.

_'Demon…demon…__demon…__demon…_

_'DEMON!'_

Hundreds of voiced thundered into his head. Thousands of copies of the dreaded word, all from different voices, rained down. Hundreds of memories, much like this one, came into mind. All those memories held that hatred, all hatred lingered in the eyes. All those pairs of eyes, wishing death on him.

This parade of voices entering his head caused him to loose hope, and his eyes turned blank. His soul had already had millions of little cracks, but this threw a kunai at the center of his soul, shattering it. With no will to fight, actually, with hardly any thought at all, Naruto stood, stranded, as death stared him in the face, inching closer and closer to him, in the form of a female ANBU.

"Demon, go away!"

"You did this to me!"

"You killed my family!"

"You made me suffer!"

"Demon!"

"Beast!"

"Monster!"

"Murderer!"

"DEMON!"

"DIE!"

Then…

Blood dripped down.

The eyes that held hatred stared him down.

His heart was pierced.

Then, the pain.

The pain of the wound.

The pain deep within his heart, his soul.

Then red swarmed his vision.

Not the nothingness of black.

The anger of red.

It seeped down into his vision, numbing the pain, promising sweet things.

He welcomed it.

* * *

Bird looked down at the boy, her keen hearing heard the falter in his beating heart. She heard the heart slowing down. She narrowed her eyes and spit on the boy, "Good." She said aloud, even though no one could hear her, "That's taken care of." The body was bloody, she was sure. But she had used a standard kunai, one that every ninja uses. She grabbed the knife, twisting it, making the wound wider, and threw the kunai behind her. No one would know what she did here; there was no evidence, except a dead demon.

Before the heart said its last beats, though, red chakra pulsed out flowing like the paused, then flowing again, sequence of blood, forming a fox shape image around the boy. Chakra condensed into an image of two fox like eyes over the closed eyes of the boy, the fox seeing somewhere else besides the damp sewers of the boys mind for the first time since he had been sealed. Moving its chakra, the fox made the unconscious boy get into a four-legged crouch, ready to pounce on the woman who was about to not only kill the boy, but also the fox itself.

"So, the fox finally shows its true colors." The woman sneered, back on her guard. She made hand seals, blowing a stream of white fire from her mouth, aimed at the boy.

The boy stood there, taking the hit. "Fool" muttered the woman, but stopped when the fire dissipated, and the boy was still standing. "I forgot," she whispered, "The demons main element is fire, fair enough." She made hand seals, but this time, instead of a stream of fire, a stream on water poured out of her mouth instead.

But the water only made the fox angrier, and launched itself at her as the heat around its body turned the water to steam. He launched himself when he came within 5 feet to the elite shinobi, but froze, in midair.

What had stopped the fox was a 3 foot long pillar of sharp stone sticking out of the ground, and skewering the boy where his wound, almost healed up, was. The boy was frozen, but his heart still struggled on as the fox's eyes viewed the dirt below him, before loosing consciousness. The red chakra seeped back into the boy, no longer helping him.

As the female ANBU walked away, the heart grew more quiet, then…

Ba'boom.

The final beat, the last struggle towards life.

Then it lay silent.

* * *

'_No…' _a wave of anger hit this newly awakened man, even though he had never been brought to consciousness in six years. Somehow, he knew what was going on.

'_NO!'_

Chakra surged into the blond haired boy, but not the boys own, and not even the vile red chakra. It was different. It was pure.

* * *

Bird turned around in shock, and then frowned. She should have known that the boy wouldn't be killed that easily. He was a demon, after all. She took the blade that she had used to try and kill him, the blade that she had dropped on the ground. The chakra confused her, though, because it was not the evil chakra that she had remembered from six years ago, and the chakra the fox had just fought with. It was like nothing she ever felt.

An accumulation of chakra, so great in mass that it was visible, covered the boy. The chakra lifted him up off the ground, so great was its power. It formed a shield over him, protecting him from anything outside of the body. It began to pump into the body of the boy at a furious rate, making the pressure higher and higher, filling it until the pressure was so great, it exploded.

The pulse threw the ANBU, who would forever remain nameless, into a tree, breaking her neck and killing her. Even though she was a trained ANBU, this blast was not expected, and with only a tenth of a second to react, she could only watch as the pulse of chakra grabbed her and threw her backwards, as if it wanted her dead. It spread across the village, its remains making the village sparkle in the sunlight. But most importantly, it signaled the Hokage in the tower, making him rush off into the day, towards the source of the Chakra, where a boy would be.

* * *

Naruto woke up, and looked around. The memory of the encounter wiped away. As he looked around, he realized he was in the forest, where he was going to practice his Chakra training. Naruto smiled and brought his hands up, he must've fallen asleep. But then he stopped and stared at his hands, there was blood on him. In fact, as he looked around his body, he found blood all over him, and a cut in his clothing over the heart. Blood pounded in his head as he opened up the tear, and found a pink scar there, tinged with red, but it must have been his imagination, because when he blinked, the scar was gone.

Naruto breathed heavily and looked around, he saw the trees around the little clearing. He looked toward his stuffed animal, but it was all right, he turned is head to his left, and stopped. He saw a bundle, of what appeared to be clothes. He walked up to it, and moved it around.

Then he screamed.

Sightless eyes stared back at him, as blood dribbles down the woman's lips.

Naruto backed away, looking at his hands, and suddenly knew that this was his doing. He ran to the river that was close by, throwing off his clothes along the way.

When he got to his destination, he dives into the river, trying to scrub the blood off, the evidence. When his body looked clean enough, he got out and shook like a dog to get the water off, and he began to scrub his hands raw. No matter how hard he scrubbed them, the bloody mess never seemed to leave his fingers. Tears streamed down his face when what he had finally done hit him. Only when the tears dropped on his hands, did the blood finally seem to flow away. He kneeled and cried into his hands, never wanting to take another life, never wanting to go back to the body of the ANBU. He cried until there were no more tears.

Demon.

Maybe they were right.

* * *

That was where the Third found Naruto, still kneeling, stark naked, on the rivers edge.

Naruto felt the old mans presence, but never turned to try and see if the Hokage was saying something.

The Hokage _was _saying something, but seeing that it never touched Naruto's ears, there is no point in adding it to the script.

"Jiji?" Naruto interrupted the Hokage, knowing that the littlest thing he said would grab the Hokage's attention.

The Hokage fell silent, listening to the boy.

"I, I really _am _a demon, aren't I?" He boy pulled his hands away from his eyes, looking at the bloodied heaps of flesh. "I killed her, Jiji, I _killed _her!" The boy stood and turned around, staring at the man. "I'm a monster, a demon!" The tears, which the boy though had dried up, flowed again, "What right did I have? What right did I have to take her _life _away? What difference am I from a murderer?" He looked up into the eyes of the Hokage, expecting to see hate, instead he saw sympathy and compassion.

"My dear boy," Sarutobi knelt and held the boys shoulders, forcing the boy to look at him, "There are times in life when you are forced to do something you yourself do not agree with. There are times when you are forced to abandon a comrade, or when you have to let your enemy leave, or even kill a human, because if you do not do these things, the consequences would be dire. It doesn't mean that the human you kill is innocent, nor does it mean you are a murderer."

"wha-?" Naruto sniffled out, trying to dry his tears.

"Do you know what a murderer is?" Naruto shook his head yes, so Sarutobi continued, "A murderer kills people on purpose. A murderer can either care, or not care. To me, people that are murderers kill without remorse. People who kill but are sad to have done so, that is a human. Humans make mistakes, humans are not perfect, humans, are neither angles, nor demons. Humans have emotions. Now, Naruto, don't you think you are not perfect, do you know you have emotions?" Naruto shook his head yes, "That means you are a human. Do you feel remorse?" Naruto thought a little about what that word meant, then nodded, once again, yes, "That means, to me, you are not a murderer. You are a human, Naruto, not a demon. You are not a murderer. Now, Naruto, do you remember killing her?" Naruto furiously nodded his head no. "Then how do you even know you're a murderer? Don't blame yourself, Naruto, for something you don't remember doing. If you don't remember doing it, then you either did not kill her, or you didn't do it on purpose. Do _you_ think you are a murderer?"

Naruto had been seeing what the Third said, and when he compared himself to what he said, he couldn't say he was a murderer. Trying to find his voice, Naruto voiced out a weak, "No."

"Or a demon?"

This was by far the hardest question. Even though he could say no, since the Hokage said he was human, he could still not remove 6 years of being called a demon, in one night. Naruto tried desperately to say no, but he couldn't. All he could force out was a, "Maybe." But it was more then he ever thought he could work out.

Sarutobi nodded in satisfaction, if he could get the boy to say that much in one night, maybe it wouldn't be so hard to change the boy's view of himself. He poked the boy in the heart, holding his finger there where, unbeknownst to him, the scar once was. "You are a child of six years old, who has had too many hardships in his life. There is non other like you. But most importantly, you are Uzumaki Naruto, a Konohana citizen."

Naruto smiled, as tears ran over his lips, but they were no longer tears of sadness and anger, they were tears of satisfaction and peace. The image of the Hokage blurred a bit, the tears muddling his sight. He could no longer understand what the Hokage was saying, he didn't care. He had just seen something that he had never thought he would see. Recognition. He lunged forward and wrapped his tiny arms around the Hokage. "Thank you, Jiji."

"Your welcome, Naruto." He held the boy for as long as the tears ran down Naruto's face, and wiped them off with the handkerchief he had in his pocket. Naruto backed up to look at the man who had granted one of his greatest wishes, and smiled as his tears dried up.

"Now," said the Hokage, "We should probably start heading back." The man, feeling his age once again, looked at the sky, now starting to shift into a red. For the first time ever, the Hokage picked Naruto and set him of his back. "Hold on!" cried the man to the person behind him, though the boy on his back didn't hear him, and the Hokage started to run.

Naruto would never forget that ride, as the wind whipped his hair back, the chill of the air numbing his face from the thousands of needles stinging his skin. The sent of the forest, more polluted with smells then the city, wafted up his nose, each sent disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. And for a moment, Naruto felt as though he were with the birds, flying high into the sky, and weaving his way in and out of the trees.

* * *

Naruto lay in bed, staring at the moon which looked like the pupil of the sky, the stars and the deep blue of the sky were the iris. His thoughts lingered on what had happened tonight. He had remembered more then he had said to himself: he had remembered the pain of the woman calling him demon, but mostly, he had remembered the invitation, the wishes that the red had promised him, and Naruto shuddered. If the only way the red could start granting wishes was if he would start killing people, he wanted nothing of it. But he remembered how easy it was to say yes to the red, and how hard it had been to try and refuse.

'_I'll grow stronger…' _though the blond boy, before saying, with the moon as his witness, "I promise to fight the red as hard as I can, I will promise to fight and train hard, so I can deny the red, and I promise to refuse to kill anyone, so that I will not become heartless like other people have, unless killing is absolutely necessary for me to save what I love." The boy put his hand to his heart, and looked solemnly to the moon, "I promise."

* * *

_Poke… 'twitch'_

"How'd you get that?"

_Poke_… _'twitch'_

"Can I get one?"

Poke… 'Twitch, Twitch'

"What is it?"

_Poke… "Twitch, Twitch'_

"Is it real?"

Pok-

"ARRRGGGHHHH!" A man got up, his robin blue eyes blazing, as his brown hair flew behind him.

"But-" Iruka was cut off.

"I'M LEAVING!" The man ran out the door, leaving behind two confused siblings standing near where he once was, and a class full of 5 to 6 year olds.

What had happened was that Iruka's assistant teacher had to move outside of Konohana because of family related business, and since then, Iruka has gone through 6 assistant teachers, who obviously couldn't handle the younger kids. Take today's substitute assistant, for example. He had only started this morning, and had decided to sit next to the desk, instead of behind it. Mistake # 1. Why, do you ask, was it a mistake? He had a prosthetic left leg. Mistake # 2 was that he had sat still, looking over the class, and ignoring the questions that students had come up to ask him, before class had started. Mistake # 3, was letting himself be spotted by the Gunsioun kids, both orphans made from the attack of the Kyuubi, both of them had too much curiosity for plastic things, and just as the brother and sister viewed it, they knew, they just _HAD _to touch it, just to see if it was real.

The kids had started poking his fake leg, and just like that, Iruka lost his 7th substitute before he had even started.

Iruka stopped trying to call the man back, and instead direc ted his full furry of his glare on all the kids.

'_Uh-oh' _they all thought simultaneously.

Iruka's eyes started twitching from the sheer force it put behind the glare, and the class's teacher said, "Since you guys chased away my assistant, you will now no longer be going on the field trip." Groans could be heard throughout the class while Iruka was trying to keep his anger at bay, "Now instead I want everyone to line up in the front of the class, so I can test how far you guys have managed to pull out your Chakra." This news replaced the groans with a few cheers. All the kids had gone out of their way to gain access to their Chakra, and a few have even managed to do just that.

* * *

Most of the class has gone already and had been allowed to sit back down, when it was Naruto's turn. He went up to the middle of the classroom, and sat down in a cross-legged position. Iruka looked at the boy questionably, but didn't say a word.

Meanwhile, with Naruto, he was trying to dive down once again into himself. He had been able to once again find that steel dome, and felt his chakra move around inside it. He felt around the surface, trying to find that small hole in it once more. When he managed to feel it, he began the slow process of pulling it out.

* * *

Five minutes had passed since the boy had sat on the floor, and the kids started to turn to each other and talk, no longer having their attention on the boy. Iruka, too, was starting to grow irritated, and was about to shake the boy out of his meditation state, when he felt a spike in chakra. Other students, although they did not know what it was, felt it to, and the whole rooms attention turned to Naruto.

The boy started to have wisps of blue appear out of thin air next to him, only to disappear again. But one by one, the wisps grew more numerous, before entirely cloaking Naruto in a blue veil. The boy opened his eyes, but they were no longer blue, but were a glowing white, the boy having lost consciousness earlier.

Iruka knew something was wrong when the boy opened his eyes, a boy this young was not meant to have this much chakra! When he thought that, the Chakra suddenly changed its demeanor, and lashed out like a tornado.

* * *

Naruto knew something was wrong when he reached in too deep, and felt malevolent Chakra force itself on him, and he suddenly ended up in a big sewer. _'Like the one from before!' _thought the boy, as he remembered his near death experience. He looked above him, and saw the pipes that hung from the blackness above like an ornament.

Naruto ran through the hallway, this time the stone was perfectly smooth, though, and no doors showed other directions. The boy knew that the last time he was here, he had found the solution at the end of the cave, and he knew that he needed to get back to the classroom, so the boy ran on.

In a minute, Naruto found himself in a small circular room. When he looked back the way he had come, all he saw was a wall; he was locked in.

He looked at his surroundings. There was nothing much in the room, except for the blue pipe with the lever sticking out in the middle of the floor. There were words written by the lever, but he couldn't read them.

Making a split decision, Naruto ran and pulled it down.

* * *

Just as Iruka leaped, prepared to knock out the boy, the Chakra diminished, and then disappeared altogether.

"Ow… My head." Naruto was now on his knees, clutching his head lightly. He looked around, and saw that the class was staring frightfully at him, turning to Iruka, the boy asked, "Was it that bad?"

"No, you did well." Iruka decided to cheer the boy up, "Just learn to control it better."

"Right!" Naruto ran back to his seat and smiled cheerfully.

Needless to say, the last people in line didn't perform nearly as well as Naruto, but then again, many thought that that was a good thing.

The class passed, uneventful compared to what had happened, but before Naruto left, Iruka gave him some advice on Chakra control exercises. Naruto thanked his sensei, before going out to work on them.

* * *

**As I said above, I am sorry for all the things looking like it was repeated time, and time again in this story, I am hoping to change that in the next chapter, again, as I said above.**

**Also, I'm sorry for the crappyness of the talk between the Hokage and Naruto. I tried the best I could, but I think I'm horrible at touchy conversations.**


	7. Interaction

**I'm sorry, I kinda had writers block, but at least I got this one done. Ummm..... I dont have much to say, so go ahead and get reading!**

**... Oh, and Enjoy chapter 7 of Vibrations!**

_

_

**Vibrations: Chapter 7**

**Interaction**

Start

**

* * *

**

A robin tipped its wing tips, making him turn in place. He dived down lower, and with a few flaps of his wings, alighted alongside a raven.

'How is the boy?' the robin asked as he began to preen his feathers, before ruffling up his feathers and staring down at the Blond haired boy called Naruto.

'Still unnerved from the events that happened yesterday.' Replied the raven as sun shone on him, making his near-black feathers shine blue.

'Really.' Responded the robin, looking at the boy with sympathy. The two birds seemed to have taking a liking to following the boy, and they happened to catch what had happened the day before. When they saw the boy covered in red chakra, they knew that it was not him that caused it, neither was it the boy that caused the chakra pulse that had killed the female ninja. They had seen when the boy wallowed in despaired, and felt a slight pang of sympathy for him. 'Poor boy.' Added the robin.

'Yes, poor boy.' Then the two birds went back to watching the said boy, as he played with his chakra.

* * *

It had been only a few hours since the fiasco with the over dosage of chakra output. In those hours, Naruto had managed to envelope half the leaf with his chakra.

The Chakra control exercises that Iruka-sensei had given him went into two stages. One was to fully envelope a leaf in his chakra, and the last was -using the chakra surrounding the leaf- lift the leaf up with no other forces. So far, he had been successful completing half of the first step.

The place Naruto had come to practice was now on the opposite side of Konohana, away from the clearing that he used to go to. He couldn't stand being there, because it reminded him of the event that had taken place.

This clearing that he now practiced on was slightly smaller then the other he had used. It had a small shack as one of the walls of the clearing, the wall facing the city. The shack was a worn down outpost that used to hold ninja equipment as backup. In fact, it still held several kunai and some storage scrolls. Then there were the walls of the clearing on either side of the shack, the few trees and bushes filling that roll. The trees in front of the shack, though, were much bigger in size then the others around it, for some reason unknown to Naruto.

Presently, Naruto sat on an overgrown tree root, panting and sweating as he looked at the wilted leaf in his hands with grown hatred. "I _**hate**_you! You stupid leaf!" Naruto growled, tearing up the leaf.

The boy jumped up, and grabbed a new leaf from one of the small bushes to his right.

Each time he a leaf that had started to wilt, he tore it, and got a new leaf from a different bush. Naruto knew that problem rested with him, but he couldn't stand to work with one of the closely related ancestors of any of the problematic leafs.

'_This had been so much easier when I first started!' _thought the boy, _'It's probably because of chakra exhaustion.' _He sighed and threw away the leaf he had just picked into the dense vegetation. He was tired of working, tired of trying to accomplish something that he was making no improvement on. Right about now, a warm cup of ramen on this cold fall day, and some comfy covers sounded like the perfect thing to cheer Naruto up. Just thinking the thought made Naruto smile. He jumped up, and bounded towards the village.

Naruto waved at the unlucky Chuunin that needed to guard the gate through this cold day as he made his way through the village walls.

The layout of Konohana spread wide and far out, separating the taller buildings throughout the town, making some buildings almost touch the village walls. There were a few areas where the buildings didn't breach the ground area; the park was one of them.

The park was one of Naruto's least favorite places to go, because as he saw the children playing with one another, with their families, it reminded him of what he could never have. But as he stepped through the cold, he led himself there, because it was the shortest way back home.

He looked about the plain of grass, shivering as he took his first step upon it. The bright morning sun that had started the day disappeared behind the line of trees, and the cold air from the north brought in a rolling fogbank, which condensed into the ice-cold dew that was now resting on his sandals and bare feet. Naruto brought his hands up, breathing into them for warmth. He started to quicken his pace, leading his footsteps towards the buildings ahead, when he knocked into someone he hadn't noticed before.

"Ow!"

"Sorry!" Naruto looked down, and saw a mass of pink underneath him. He got up quickly and offered his hand.

"Thanks." Muttered the girl, grabbing his hand as he lifted her up.

"My name's Naruto." Said Naruto to the girl.

"Mines Sakura." The girl brought her head up, looking at his face, and then stopped, recognition filling her face. "You're in my class." She whispered, her eyes gone wide. She slowly backed away.

Naruto blinked his eyes, pretending to not see her fear of him as she back away, "Sakura," he said, rolling her name of his tongue, testing it, "it's a pretty name."

"Thanks." She said, not able to hide the surprise out of her voice. This was not like the Naruto she had been expecting. Sakura looked behind her, wanting to get away from the boy. She said the first excuse that came to mind, "I gotta go, my mommy's gonna get mad at me if I don't get home soon." And with that, the pink haired girl ran away.

Naruto sighed, watching as the pink form of Sakura disappeared into the afternoon fog. "Nice meeting you, too." He muttered, sad and disappointed.

He headed towards home, his heart heavy. He sighed again as he passed through an empty street. His footsteps echoed around the buildings, making the scene seem lonelier then it should have been.

But since Naruto, was, of course, Naruto, he couldn't let the conversation keep him down long. He started to skip along the street, thinking of his next goal of the chakra exercise. Hopefully tomorrow he would be able to completely cover the leaf in chakra… hopefully.

That night, a cold frost settled over the town, but the air was fresh and crisp, and the sky was full of stars.

* * *

It had been a week since Naruto's encounter with Sakura- outside of school, of course- and the week had brought nice weather. It was sunny almost every day, and the sun warmed up the town. There had been no bad incidents, and the town seemed more cheerful. Although, the week had taught Naruto that he had no skill in the manner called patients. He had gotten nowhere far to completing his goal with the chakra exercise, and had stopped for the rest of the week. Today should be different, though, because Naruto was planning to start again.

It was almost time for class to start at the academy, and Naruto sat in the back, looking over the class.

Today there was a new assistant teacher, the 13th one, and maybe, if Iruka was lucky, the number would not incline to 14… Yeah right.

This assistant had silver hair, a ninja headband, and a green chunnin vest. This version of the assistant teacher was called Mizuki. He sat where every other assistant sat, right in front of the desk.

Naruto snorted as he thought of the poor assistant teacher sitting down there. A few of the kids in this class had formed a group. They were called the Annoying Squad. They made it their job to annoy the new assistants so much, that they would leave. There had been so many assistants lately, that they had split each person to an assistant. Today's assistant was Narutos. Poor sucker, he was going to wish he hadn't stepped foot in this class at all.

"Now class," Iruka stepped up front, "This is our new assistant teacher, Mizuki. I convinced him to come down and view our class. If were lucky, he might even choose to become our permanent assistant teacher. So please be on your best behavior." _Please, please, please! I don't think I could take any more of this. _Iruka thought.

Iruka turned around to the blackboard, and started to write on it. Naruto was waiting for his signal, a boy in the middle row holding up his left pinky finger. The signal would be given only when the assistant teacher was not looking at the class, that way, Naruto would not get in trouble for it, as the teacher and assistant would have no prime suspect.

With very careful aim, Naruto would throw a rock that would land in a can that was attached to the rafters. The can was on a lever, and it would lower the lever, raising the other side, spilling a can of paint that was halfway balanced on that side of the lever. The spilled paint would travel along a pathway, and as it went along it would push the path down, causing pulleys to pull the strings attached down. The pulleys one by one would release other pulleys or mechanisms, all carefully timed. The result? White paint would spill onto Mizuki, then feathers, and even a chicken mask. The final result? A chicken Mizuki, in theory.

Naruto peered down into the middle row, wondering why the signal had not been given. In any moment now, Iruka would turn around and their chance at getting the assistant teacher would be gone. The reason that Naruto knew that was because he had looked over the teachers schedule for today, so he could plan everything perfectly. He had given the instructions after looking at the schedule to a boy with brown hair, called Inuzuka Kiba.

Naruto looked up at the bucket, then the stone in his hands. He thought about throwing the stone up anyways, and decided against that. He would not risk getting in trouble, and having the only teacher who liked him in the entire academy mad at him.

It was 2 more minutes before Iruka turned around, showing what he had written on the board.

Naruto sighed as he thought of his missed chance. He didn't want to check the teachers schedule again, it had taken him nearly a half hour to plan to see it yesterday, and five people to work to distract Iruka. This would take too much time out of his training with his chakra. Naruto shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and stared intently on Iruka.

"Ok class, for today, we will learn the history of our Nation, and the geological difference that the land was back then compared to now…"

* * *

During lunch, Naruto ran over to the swing before anyone could take it. Deciding that it would be better if he didn't eat lunch, Naruto didn't bring any leftover ramen today.

The sun kissed blond stared out into the courtyard, looking at all the kids as they sung and danced, gossiped and stalked. One boy went unnoticed as he came up behind Naruto and placed his cold hands on Naruto's shoulders. Naruto yelped and fell forward into the damp grass.

As he got up, Naruto could see the boy, hunched over in laughter. "That wasn't funny!" Naruto complained.

The boy stood up straight, but his face still in a fit of giggles, "You… you should've seen your reaction."

Naruto just pouted and crossed his arms.

"Anyway…" continued the boy, "We were wondering if you would like to join us for lunch."

Us? Naruto looked behind the boy, and found two of his classmates standing behind him. Upon a little observation, Naruto identified Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chouji. When looking back at the brow haired boy, he recognized Kiba.

This had been the first time anyone had invited him over for lunch. Naruto heart beat rapidly as he thought of having them for friends. Naruto smiled warmly, his first true smile at the academy, "Sure!" then, thinking that they might only want to trade lunches with him (as he had seen so many kids do) he added, "Um… I don't have any lunch, though…"

"That doesn't matter." The brown haired Kiba said, "Follow us. We normally eat somewhere else."

"Where do you guys eat?" Naruto questioned.

"You'll see." Grumbled Shikamaru.

Naruto followed them into the school.

* * *

The group arrived at the roof of the Academy building. Naruto looked around in awe, "I never knew there was a place like this up here."

The view was much more spectacular then one would think it would be from a four story building. The building was level with the majority of the treetops that were behind the Academy. The view made the forest look like a carpet of bright fall leaves. A breeze ruffled a few leaves off of their designated spots on their branches, and flew them away, up past Naruto. Naruto leaned his head forward; enjoying the way the wind caressed his hair and face.

"Come on, Naruto!" The loudest of the group, Kiba, called.

Naruto, of course, didn't hear, but he turned around after the breeze dispersed. Chouji was waving at him from the corner of the building, the one facing the Hokage monument. Naruto jogged on over to them.

"Do you guys always eat here?" Naruto asked, his curiosity peaked.

"No," answered Chouji, "We used to eat down in the courtyard, just like all the others. Then one day, Kiba decided to take a shortcut to the bathroom-"

"-And got lost." Shikamaru added, making Kiba blush from embarrassment, "He eventually winded up here-"

"-And I showed them where to find this place!" Kiba put in, his embarrassment forgotten in his excitement and joy at obviously being the first person to discover the rooftop.

"We eventually decided to eat here for lunch. And so far, none of the teachers has given us any problems." Finished Shikamaru.

Naruto looked at all three standing in front of him, each expressing a different feeling. Kiba, who had his eyes filled with pride, Shikamaru, who had crossed his arms in a bored expression, and Chouji, who was smiling happily. Finally, he looked around the rooftop, from the carpet of leaves, to the Hokage monument, which stared down over them protectively. "It has an amazing view."

"Yes, it does." It was Chouji who spoke.

For a while, the three students ate in silence, an awkward atmosphere in place now that a foreign presence had joined them for lunch. Naruto sat, watching them eat, and sometimes glancing around to view the scenery. The quietness wrapped itself around their presence, allowing for a sense of peace, before- surprisingly- Shikamaru found it to be his job to break the peaceful silence.

"Naruto?"

Naruto looked at Shikamaru, whose lips he saw moving out of the corner of his eye, "What?"

"Can you not tell anyone about this place?"

Chouji and Kiba both glanced up, hearing the topic of Shikamaru's conversation. Chouji spoke after Shikamaru finished, "It would be nice to know that it will be quiet up here for awhile."

Kiba added his two cents, "Yah! I wouldn't want you to get the credit for _my_ discovery!"

Naruto smiled and inwardly chuckled as he read what Kiba said on the matter, "I won't tell anybody."

Kiba, not satisfied, pushed Naruto for more, "Do you promise?"

Naruto frowned slightly, wasn't his word enough? He looked at the three kids his age stare back at him. This would be the first promise he made to someone besides himself. Naruto thought, and came to the conclusion that this promise would make him part of the group, another friend. Not just one friend for Naruto, but _three_. More friends than he could've hoped for. Naruto looked at each academy student in the eye, before breaking out into an enormous grin that threatened to leave his face. _Friends… _"I promise."

* * *

At 2:30 pm, you could see Naruto walking outside the gates of Konohagakure. At 3:00 you would see him in the clearing he had now favored.

Looking into this clearing made him remember the other, because of their close resemblance.

Unwillingly, events from the night in the other clearing passed through his mind. He tried to intervene; to try to clear his head, but he made no difference. Withdrawing his struggle, Naruto gave in as the torrent of memories swept him up into a place far past where he was. The only three redeeming memories in that torrent, was when the Hokage had recognized him as a citizen of Konohana, and had clothed him and allowed him to ride on his back, and the day after, when the stuffed dragon was found on his doorstep, put there by the Hokage. But even so, with those comforting memories, there was far too much blood dying the visions red. Unnoticed by Naruto, a single tear slipped from his eye, and fell -sparkling like a diamond- to the ground.

* * *

It was around six o'clock when Naruto decided to go home, extremely exhausted from practicing so much with chakra. The sky had turned a beautiful shade of red, and even though the color was close to blood red, in Naruto's eyes, nothing in nature looked ugly. The red blanket of sky held one star, twinkling at the distance.

Naruto looked up, and spotting the star, whispered a rhyme that he had heard someone at the orphanage (when he used to live there) mutter;

" Star light, Star bright,

The first star I see tonight.

I wish I may, I wish I might,

Have the wish I wish tonight."

Naruto closed his eyes, and muttered his wish.

As he left the clearing, an echo of his voice tumbled around the leaves; "I wish"…

* * *

**Thats a wrap!**

**I hoped you liked it, I added more dialogue to this chapter then any of the others. I hope you like that Naruto is finally starting to make friends, anyways, please review. Um.... **

**I'M ALSO LOOKING FOR BETA READERS! IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	8. Facing Temptation

**Still haven't found a beta. I sent a few requests, but none have responded so far. Thanks for your guys' reviews! I feed of them! Muahahahahahahaaa. *Cough*Cough* Not really. Anyways, in other news, we have a new character being introduced, no, he isn't an OC like Perrie, you guys will recognize him. That I am sure of. Anyways, thanks for hanging on for so long. I have another excuse! This computer gets slower to respond as I move the mouse. In about an hour, the mouse doesn't move... Its not as bad as having that other virus, but still quite annoying. I really need to get a new computer, or super duper anti virus software. Anyways, if your still reading this, than thanks ^.^ I think that I might finally be getting back on the ball again. But I still need to manage my time better. But enough with my personal life, on with the show!**

"Speach"

_'Thoughts'_

**"Demonic/Higher Power speaking"**

**Vibrations Chapter 8:**

**Facing Temptation**

* * *

It was noon; a couple of days after Naruto had made his first friends. The academy was full, and it was time for lunch.

Chaos would ensue.

Kids poured down the small staircase like a waterfall from the door. Naruto barley survived, and his legs had gone numb for several seconds before the chorus of vibrations subsided, and the grass and dirt acted as a muffler.

He had decided today, that instead of watching his… _friends_ (the word still hesitated through his brain every time he thought it, too overcome with emotion to think properly) eat, he would practice his chakra exercise.

The sun kissed blond darted through the masses of students, intent on taking a few leaves from the tree the swing was hanging from. As he plucked the leaves, he thought he heard a whisper of otherworldly words. Whispers that he couldn't make out. _Sorry. _Naruto thought to the tree, before turning around and heading for the staircase, heading back into the academy and allowing his feet to travel down the path he now knew so well on their own.

_Maybe the guys could help me with my training!_ Thought Naruto, _Maybe they could teach me how to complete it!_

With that hopeful thought, the blonde opened the door to the roof.

"Hey, guys!" Naruto called down to the group situated near the corner of the roof.

Kiba looked up, "Hey, Naruto, welcome back!"

Naruto would never get tired of hearing that.

The blond walked over to the group, and sat in between Shikamaru and Chouji, "Sorry I'm late."

"Its fine." Replied Chouji.

"We saw you going out with the others towards the eating area. We thought you weren't going to join us." Said Shikamaru.

"Nah, I just had to get this!" Naruto replied happily, holding out his hand so that each boy could see the leaf, "Sensei gave me a chakra control exercise. I have to envelope the leaf with my chakra, then lift it."

"Really? I had to do that a year ago." Said Kiba.

"You did?" Questioned the blond. "What about you two?" Naruto asked Shikamaru and Chouji. Naruto was dismayed when they both nodded their head, "Am I the only one who didn't get this?"

"Probably not." Mumbled Shikamaru, "We had the training before you only because we come from a family made up of ninjas."

Naruto's eyes fell, thinking about family. Just that simple word filled him full of hope. But he knew he would never get what he wanted. He glanced back up again, "Could you guys help me?" he mumbled.

"Sure!" Kiba was more then happy to. "Whacha' stuck on?"

"I can envelop half the leaf with my chakra, but from then on, I can't."

"Show us." Chouji asked.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Fine." The boy attempted to cover the leaf in chakra, closing his eyes as he dove into the depth of his reserves.

As the other boys watched on, they felt a mass of chakra enveloping around the stem of the leaf, before prodding its way upward. What they couldn't see was the mass continuing and starting to shake, unstable. The chakra closed halfway around the leaf, the other half of the leaf still bare. The line where the chakra ended and the bare part began was not clear though. There were wisps of chakra lacing outwards, trying to enclose the rest of the leaf, but failing. Somehow, Shikamaru was able to sense that.

Naruto opened his eyes, looking at his friends, "Well?"

Shikamaru was the one who answered, "It looks as if too much of your chakra outside of your body allows the chakra to become unstable, preventing it from going further."

Naruto blinked his eyes, catching what the other boy had said, but was confused as to why that was. "How'd you know all that?"

"I listen, here and there." Responded Shikamaru mysteriously.

Naruto sighed after watching Shikamaru unintentionally state his problem. His problem was something he could not help, nevertheless… "So what do you think I should do?"

"I think you should get the smallest amount of chakra you can get, and spread it the thinnest you can over the leaf."

"Ok." Naruto responded, and he continued to do just that.

Naruto stole as much chakra as he could from the amount he had on his hand, without withdrawing it completely. He then began to spread it out over the leaf, and found, to his surprise, that it stretched entirely over the leaf. Naruto blinked, then began to lift up the leaf, everyone watching him.

Before it got half a centimeter, the leaf wobbled, and the stem dipped and fell back onto his palm. A split second after that, the chakra vanished into the environment, and the leaf ended back fully on his palm.

"That's better then what I did when I first got help on that." Muttered Kiba, before taking a bite of his sushi.

"Keep practicing, the second part is always harder. Or at least that's what happened to me." Said Chouji, his words directed at Naruto.

"Thanks, I will." Naruto replied.

The corner of the rooftop quieted down as the boys ran out of things to say. The sky overhead was clear, and the sun was in the center of the sky, as if it was centering itself around the boys.

Naruto had never asked Kiba why he had never given him the signal, for his prank on Mizuki, and Naruto figured that it was because Mizuki always kept an eye on the class. He was the first good assistant teacher. But something about pranking -even if his first and only prank was never fulfilled- felt right to Naruto. The thought put behind it, and the complexity of the mechanics of the prank. Something about pranking made him want to do it again, maybe to see the reactions of the students. Besides, it seemed as if it was a great mask, a way of deception.

Maybe it was one of those reasons, or all of them, or none at all, that made Naruto say what he said, "Do you guys want to help me with a prank?"

Needless to say, there was a lot of mischief going on up on the roof that day. But only twenty minutes after, the bell rang again, and the boys ducked down into the building once more.

* * *

The rooftop grew silent again, in the absence of the usually loud boys. The only sound came from the howling wind. The sky above was quickly being covered with clouds, dark and menacing on the horizon. The air began to have a buzz-like quality to it, as if electricity hung in its depths. The birds watching Naruto flew away, ducking below to find safety in the hollow of a tree. The incoming rainstorm would last for a while, they figured.

"Did you see what that boy did?" asked the robin.

"Yes." Said the raven, landing in a tree hollow "It was… incredible. That may be why some humans and human cities feel weird when we come near them."

"But I know we have whatever it was." Argued the robin, alighting along side the raven. "I've felt it, even if it was not in such an amount."

The two birds though over it, busying themselves by preening their feathers of the rain.

"Do you think…? Do you think maybe, that _we_ might be able to do that if we tried?" asked the robin, his black eyes glowering with an emotion that was hard to interpret in the coal depths of his eyes.

The raven's beak opened, and a harsh, raspy sound left his throat. It took awhile for the robin to realize that the raven was laughing.

"Good joke. You almost had me going there for awhile." The raven said after he had gotten his laughter under control.

"Yep, it was funny, alright." The robin did not look humored, but the raven never noticed. What if humans weren't the only ones to do those things? What if ravens and robins and foxes and bears and dear could learn to use what the humans called chakra? What then?

* * *

It was 2:30, and Naruto's class had just ended thirty minutes ago. Naruto was now prowling around the streets, trying to find something interesting to do in the safest hours of the day of his schedule.

The streets of Konoha were busy, and it was not to say that Naruto was safe from the glares. He never was. As long as there was someone on the street, there was always a glare.

Naruto's feet took him past the main districts, and into the edges of the village.

Naruto had never been to this side of the village. In the day he had always been at the academy or at Ichiraku's. At the night it was normally too dangerous to wander around, period. But even in the longest of his spare times, Naruto had never led himself in this direction, for their was an aura about it, one an ninja-in-training would probably never understand until they were out of the academy.

Now Naruto found himself to be traveling around the area. Finding weapon shops for ninjas he never knew existed, restaurants that carried fast healthy food, and clothing stores that held all the necessary clothing for civilians and ninjas.

Naruto wondered why he had never wandered around in this district before, and found himself regretting that he never visited this area before, because, surprisingly, he was getting little to no glares aimed in his direction. For once, Naruto found himself liking a place, not only for its looks, but the people in it.

Naruto smiled a true smile as he walked down the roads. For even if no one paid attention to him, no one looked like they despised his utter being, either.

His feet soon left that place though, after walking around in circles for a while, and he found himself nearing a clearing. In fact, it was several clearings, each one blocked off from each other by a part of the forest or a section of chain linked fences.

Naruto neared one clearing, peering between the links of the fence, and gasped at what he saw.

There were three logs stuck in the ground near the center of the field. The two outer logs were covered with fabric and hay that seemed to have been made quickly and recently to resembled humans. A half circle of trees outlined part of the clearing, the other part outlined by the chain linked fence Naruto was starring through. But that was not what had gotten Naruto excited. What had gotten him excited was the black clothed man staring at the middle log. The man seemed to go into some trance, before spinning his hands in handseals so fast that Naruto could not make out a single one. His handseals were done in under a second, and in that second, the man had jumped high up above the ground. The man appeared to take a deep breath, before blowing out a billow of fire. A fire so hot that the middle log was not charred, but burned to ashes. As the man came down, there seemed to be a brief flicker near his arms, before the man finally came to a rest on the ground. Naruto looked back at the logs, and tried to keep his mouth from opening in shock at what he saw. It seemed as if, in that brief millisecond where it seemed to flicker near that mans arm wasn't a flicker, but the man throwing kunai he seemed to have pulled from thin air. The two logs that looked like men had kunai embedded in every inch of the men's bodies, at least its front. The logs now looked like metal.

After the brief glint of awe died out in Naruto's eyes, he began to think of what that man had just done. And he shivered in fear.

The destruction that the man had just caused, without even looking winded, scared Naruto. Was that what others could do after training; that display of power that didn't even take away any noticeable amounts of energy from your reserves?

Power like that… If he could harness it…

A tendril of thought slipped into Narutos mind, being from another source. If he had that power, think of what revenge he could cause on the village! With all the pain and suffering they had caused him, they would finally get what they deserve: punishment for their sins. Maybe torture, maybe death.

In that instant, Naruto became what the people feared, a demon.

Naruto reared on the thought. That thought, that hideous thought that turned him into what everyone called him, that proved the villagers right; that proved, that he was a demon.

Naruto came back to his senses and that thought was rebuked. He was repulsed by that thought. He was repulsed that he had even thought it! What good would it do, to become what everyone feared when he only wanted to be liked, loved, if he dared to think that.

Naruto no longer cared about the ninja, who had spotted him and was slowly heading towards him. He only cared what he had thought, and what he had thought was evil. What scared him the most, was himself. What he never knew, was that the thought had not come from himself. The thought had come from a fox that thought he was so sly and clever, from a fox who was still in pain from the fall of his pride. That fox was still enraged at what had happened years ago, for he was never one to let go of things. Grudges hung onto his mind like dirt to a new white carpet. But everything has a turn back. For every grudge, the burden on his back had become heavier; his mind grew old, and his heart numb, until one day, when his heart refused to respond at all, physically and mentally, and the demon was finally born.

But the boy knew none of this at all, and he refused to consider the fact that it was supposedly a temptation; although that temptation had failed, utterly. What the fox would never know, was that it was this attempt that made the boy turn away at all his future attempts. That, if he had just waited a few days longer, he would have succeeded in his seducing.

But the fox was to know none of that.

The boy, too overcome with emotion, did not know of the vibrations the mans footsteps made, until a hand was placed on his shoulder.

Reality snapped back into place.

"Ahh!" The boy yelled, turning to face the man. Fear of himself was quickly replaced by fear of the unknown. A man with coal black eyes stared into Narutos ocean blue ones.

The man paused for a bit before speaking, "Who are you?"

Naruto managed a throaty rasp, "Naruto."

The man looked down at the boy, and kneeled to his height, "I'm Uchiha Itachi."

The absence of noise was almost defining to Itachi, " Do you know where we are?" His voice carried on, but in the silent mind of Naruto, the words were mouthed out.

"No… Itachi-sama." All of Narutos bravado and cunningness failed when he was in this mans presence. He knew that this man- Itachi- was not one to be trifled with. He also recognized the name, Uchiha, and corresponded it with one of the symbolic families in Konoha.

"You do not have to add any title."

"Ok."

Itachi moved on to another subject, "These fields are for training." He gestured around the two, "Ninjas can practice jutsu or taijutsu, or any other type of training there is here. They can even request the area to be fenced off when they rent the field." Itachi pointed to the fence behind him that blocked the field he had just used, "Ninjas training should not be interfered with, unless the person that does interfere has a death wish."

Naruto did not know what Itachi was trying to say for sure, but he suspected that it was the friendly way for saying, 'don't spy on me or any other person again', "Sorry Itachi sir, wont happen again."

Naruto bowed his head, in fear of being ridiculed, but when he spied upward at the mans face, he was surprised that the man was lightly smiling. But it was a smile so small that few could read it. _'What?'_ "I don't know what's so funny to you." Naruto spoke, now slightly offended because the man seemed amused at what he said.

Itachi answered, "You are the last person I would expect to act like him."

"Huh?" Naruto cocked his head, confused.

"Never mind." The man stood up, standing well over two and a half feet above Naruto, "Do you need help getting home?"

For some reason, this struck Narutos pride. "I can get home myself, thank you."

Naruto started to walk away from Itachi, realizing he had no idea where he was going, when Itachi called out, "The village is the other way."

Naruto never heard him, but for some reason, his face flushed and Naruto turned around, "I know where I'm going!" But it was said only to reassure himself.

* * *

For an hour, Naruto traveled around the woods, hopelessly confused. His mind wandered to the plan that he and his friends made, the prank that they were going to pull on the substitute, Mizuki. Naruto chuckled inwardly, but put his focus again back on getting home. He traveled around the woods for some time more, when he came to a clearing he recognized, and despised.

The clearing where he killed a woman.

Naruto fell to his knees, and cried.

The most intense feelings he had boxed, and now, with no one as a witness. He let it out.

It would be an hour more before Naruto was ready to go home. And in that hour, as he viewed down at his hands, he saw the red blood that he had imagined, for so long now, was dripping into the ground. His soul unscarred.

Naruto wiped the mucus and tears from his face, relieved.

Maybe he would come back here again; for he had not visited this clearing in nearly a month. And, after all, he had discovered many things here about himself, hadn't he?

Naruto followed the path that he had not traveled for many nights. Glad that he finally recognized where he was. He was disappointed to learn how far he still had to go to get home, but he didn't mind the travel, for he had many things to think about.

As Naruto walked home that night, his soul was refreshed, cleansed with tears.

* * *

The night was still young, but Naruto lay in his bed, reflecting all that had happened, and all that he had learned this day. He silently chuckled in his mind when he thought back to what they had planned for Mizuki. It was going to be one heck of a week, Naruto figured. Full of screaming girls and spiders, and maybe, just maybe, they might have a new substitute when all was done.

His mind blatantly soared over the events that had happened at the clearing. Not needing to review what had happened. For his soul had given himself a presence of peace, and all that needed to be thought on the matter had been thought of. He did though think of Itachi, and he wondered whether or not he knew the man, for Uchiha sounded like a familiar name. Then his mind remembered.

At school, during the roll-call that was now becoming second nature for Naruto to respond to, an Uchiha Sasuke was called. Narutos final thought, before sleep took him to a different place, was him wondering if both of the Uchiha's were closely related.

Then Naruto dreamed.

* * *

**In case you guys are wondering, Naruto's dream will be in the next chp. It seems as if this part of the story (where Naruto is a young kid) is going to be allot longer then I thought. Sorry about that. And for you guys impatient about Naruto learning of the fourth... well.... let me just say, Naruto's dream will be important to you. I had Naruto go back to the clearing, because I thought that he wouldn't come to terms with what happened until he actually faced his fears head on... Or in this case, the clearing head on. Even after all this, Naruto will still have some doubts. But he wont recognize them for what they are. At least, not yet.**


	9. Dreaming in the Night

**Yay! I now have a beta!!!!! Thank you 'Eternal Thief'! ... Wow, this chapter is out unusually early... for me... Anyways, if you guys haven't read Naruto chp. 440, you sooo do NOT know what you are missing!!!!!!!!!!!!! Read it NOW! **

"Speach"

_'Thoughts'_

**"Demonic/Higher power speaking"**

_Flashback_

**Vibrations: Chapter 9**

**Dreaming in the Night**

**

* * *

**

Naruto began to dream.

The void of sleep was darker then the void of night, and it filled Naruto with dread. The fog of darkness from his eyes shifted, and once again, the blond found himself in the training ground he had come across the other day. But there was a slight difference, each tree, each blade of grass, each cloud, looked brighter, sharper in color, and yet more blurred. The sky mixed with the trees, and the trees with the ground. The only thing that seemed to be unaffected by this, was Naruto, standing in the field. His image was sharper and clearer than that of the scenery. Wondering if he was the only one there, Naruto began to look for some sign of people.

He wandered the training grounds, traveling along the borders of the grassy fields. Just when he was about to give up, a rustle was heard in the bushes.

As the blond turned towards the noise, a figure came out of the bushes. He was clothed in a black ANBU outfit, his coal black eyes intimidating Naruto. It was Itachi.

"Hello, Naruto." Itachi said, "Are you ready to train?"

Naruto was confused, "I never said anything about training…"

Itachi ignored him, "Let's begin now."

Itachi reached inside his cloak, and pulled out eight kunai. An evil light glittered in his eye, "We'll start with dodging." His voice betrayed no emotion, nor did his face. He wore a plain, stoic expression.

Eight kunai simultaneously flew at Naruto, and the boy began to run. Itachi appeared at his side, looking as calm as he had always appeared, "Not fast enough."

A kunai pelted him in the stomach. Naruto fell, grabbing at his side; his mind becoming numb with pain. Naruto looked up to see Itachi slowly walking towards him, and in his eyes, a black pinwheel on red. Red chakra began to surround the red eyed Itachi, cloaking him from harm. Naruto whimpered at the sight.

Itachi, seeing Narutos reaction, smirked, "Aw, the little boy is in trouble." His face twisted into a demented snarl, "Lesson one: those who are weak will always be weak! They are doomed to die by the hands of those stronger!" With those words, Itachi pulled out a single kunai, twirling it in his hands, before setting into a comfortable grasp. With his arm raised, he charged towards the blond.

Naruto watched as death came upon him; and as he watched, he could not believe what was coming towards him. He had been near death many times before, but he had always managed to escape. But as that cold and reflecting metal came towards him, he finally realized something that, although it should have been obvious to him, applied to all life, including his. That he would surely die, that was what he recognized; if not today, then tomorrow, or maybe years after that. Death was inevitable. Whenever you die, it would always be the right time. You couldn't stop it from happening just as you can't stop the earth from dieing every night, nor its rebirth in the morning. If he would die today, it would be the day for his death, the right date; no other would do.

Naruto smiled, finally coming to terms with his death, and closed his eyes in peace. To be gone, if that was what death was, a trip, them Naruto would gladly welcome it to take him away from this place.

With his eyes closed, he failed to notice the shadow attached to Itachi change, and become a shadow of a fox with nine tails.

He also failed to register the shadow that came from behind him, in the form of a tall man with messy hair.

He did, however, hear an angry growl. Startled, the boy looked up.

A hand was gripping the kunai, holding it away from him. Naruto could not help but remember his other dreams, when a kind stranger had hugged him from behind; a kind, and yet known stranger. How had he forgotten such dreams? And when had those dreams stopped? These questions now rang in the boy's head as he watched Itachi morph in front of him. Naruto focused again, _'Itachi was morphing?'_

It had only started happening when he had thought it, and so nothing was missed. Itachi's nose grew out longer, and his mouth grew out with his nose, becoming a muzzle. The skin around his nose turned black and damp, and fur sprouted from the edges of his lips that covered the canines. The fur traveled along down his body, encasing it in a rich orange cover. His ears slid up to the top of his head, becoming pointy and curved. As the fur reached his tailbone, the base of his spine split into three parts, and those three into three more, becoming nine bony tails. Itachi started to fall on all fours, as muscles quickly rippled their way up the front legs, placing the bones into a different position. This ripple of muscle followed down his back, to his legs, rearranging those bones as well. The tails grew muscle, and flesh and fur traveled and connected at the tails tip. The final change was his eyes, the black slowly lightening to a crimson red, the color of blood, and the eyes turned to slits, betraying the animal inside the beast. In front of Naruto, fully transformed at twelve feet in height, was the Nine Tails Fox Demon.

Naruto looked onward in fright. Was this the monster that was haunting him? The blond could not move, his fear was so great, but the great Fox did not have eyes for him, rather, it was for the man behind the blond that the Fox was interested in.

"**Human."** The fox demon growled.

"Kyuubi." Was the only reply the man gave.

Without a second thought, the Fox rushed at the man behind Naruto, and the Fox began to grow. Naruto, acting in self-defense, raised his arms to block his face. The Fox rose higher and higher, becoming at tall as the trees themselves, before bringing the paw downwards. A blue barrier formed around the blond child, blocking the clawed paw that was the Kyuubi's defiance. Kyuubi spat at this new information.

"**Disgusting human."** Growled the Fox. But without the ability to do anymore, the Fox decided to continue on his rampage of words, **"You pitiful excuse of a meat bag. Only that child has the power to protect you, and without him, you will be left to me."** That idea seemed to bring a crazed look to the Foxes face, and he smiled. A crazed, demented, evil smile that promised pain to whomever –or whatever- was on the receiving side of it.

"You will not get me, fox." The man growled out between his clenched teeth. The boy whose soul they inhabited seemingly forgotten.

"**Do not bet on it. The seal protects **_**him,**_** not you."** The Fox growled a gurgling laughter from deep inside his belly, showing, more than anything else, his loss of sanity and humanity.

As Naruto heard that laughter, a new definition of fear entered his heart, and he whimpered, a painful noise that seemed to come from the depth of his soul. Both man and beast turned to look at him.

"**Pathetic."** The Kyuubi spat out at the boy.

The man ignored the Kyuubi's comment, and knelt so he was level with the boy. His arms wrapped around the blond from behind, as he placed the boy on his lap, rocking him back and forth. He placed his head near Narutos ear, humming an old tune passed down from his mother.

A few tears fell from Narutos eyes, and he let out a half-choked sob, finally enabling the man to comfort him. The boy's tears turned into full out crying, his fear and troubles being washed by the wind.

The Kyuubi, sickened by this sight, brought down his head, thinking that additional force would be all that was required to break the barrier. He opened his mouth to crush the blue globe; his hideous breath reeked of decaying and rotted corpses, its pungent odor overpowering all other smells.

Naruto knew what was coming before he even looked up. He sobbed even harder, if that was possible. The man behind him hugged him tighter, promising silently to never let go. His song all but done, the man began to whisper, over and over, "It'll be okay, Naruto, I'm here. It'll be okay. I'm here."

Naruto felt the air being sucked out of his lungs as the fox took a breath inwards. He felt the space around him slowly becoming limited, shrinking with the deadly speared walls beginning to enclose them. The man's rocking seemed to grow faster, and his words louder as the breath of the Kyuubi blew on them full force, specks of burning hot saliva pelting the two.

Naruto started his own chant of words, "This is only a dream. This is only a dream. This is only a dream!"

* * *

Naruto woke up screaming.

Hot beads of sweat formed on his body, dampening the covers. The night darkness encased everything, fighting against the light of the moon. Tears in his eyes spilled out onto the cheeks of the blue-eyed boy. The objects in his room had become less noticeable, the darkness working in such a way that it blended sharp edges together to form an unstable line. As he sat there, he turned his head, viewing the room, which seemed to change from dark to light with no visible pattern.

Naruto stayed sitting upright, until his breathing had become normal again. As he opened up his senses, he welcomed the silence for once. Anything was better than hearing that insane laughter. At the thought of it, Naruto tightened his hold on the covers, trying to keep himself from quaking in fear. Whatever that Fox had been, it wasn't Itachi, that much Naruto could figure out. And the dream seemed far too real to be just that, a dream. He could still feel the pain in his stomach where Itachi's kunai had pierced him. But it wasn't Itachi, was it? It was Kyuubi; whoever that was. Even as Naruto racked his brain for history lessons, he could still not place the name. But then the other figure came to mind, one that he did not see, but touch. His name had not been given. Naruto did not dwindle on it; he doubted that he could come up with an answer so late into the night.

By this time, Naruto had regained all control of his body. The boy got up in the dark, and headed towards the kitchen, without turning on the light. Pulling out a stool from the tableside –which the boy placed next to the countertops- Naruto climbed until he could reach his cabinets above. He opened one, and pulled out a glass. Going to the sink, he filled the glass with tap water, and drank it, refreshing himself. After several minutes of mulling around in the kitchen, Naruto headed back to bed.

The boy pulled the covers over him as he climbed onto his sleeping place. He grabbed the stuffed dragon that was placed by his bedside, left there and forgotten for the past few weeks. As Naruto lay there holding the stuffed dragon onto his chest, he tried to bring back the feeling of safety that had been fleeing his grasp ever since he had been given his own apartment. He tried to convince himself that the ANBU outside were still there, protecting him. He had a brief recollection of a night much like this…

* * *

_Flashback:_

_Naruto sat up, shivering from the cold seeping through the poorly insulated house. The boy gripped his sheets tighter, wondering what it was that had woken him up. He felt something that was strong enough to be felt through the mattress and floor. Then he felt it again; vibrations._

_Without thinking, the boy shot up from where he lay, and took shelter under the bed, arranging the sheets in such a way that no one could view him when standing in the room._

_He felt the vibrations again, this time, a harder and deeper roar. But it ended just as suddenly as it began. The boy felt vibrations growing stronger, or coming closer. Cautiously, he looked a little ways out of the bed, and only barely managed to hold his mouth shut from the scream that was coming up from his throat._

_There were men in his room._

_There were two men; each carried what seemed to be torches, lit aflame. The torches' glow made the men's faces a deep haunting color, and their eyes seemed to stand out against their sockets. Both men were covered in sweat, and their clothes appeared to be damp from it. Each man had a beer-belly, sticking out farther from the waist then the pants could go. The shirt tried to do its job by covering their belly, but the shirts had no such luck, instead, it seemed to cling to the body that wore it, and only managed to cover their bellybutton. Grease was splattered all over their bodies, and a demented smile littered their face. Their shirts were white, and Naruto could view multiple stains on them. The only thing that tore them apart was a short mustache that rested above one of the men's lip, bits of food and grease flecked into the coarse hairs, small singular droplets of some liquid still clinging to them. The man with the mustache had been the first to enter._

_Naruto looked to the man without the mustache, seeing that he was opening his lips to speak, "Aw man!" The fat man yelled, "The demon isn't here!"_

_A hand collided with his face, sent by the other man, "Quiet, you! Do you want everyone to know that we are here?"_

"_But no one would care!" Argued the other._

"_There is a small chance that someone might!" Whispered back the one with the mustache, "Did you see that member tonight? The one who suggested that we stop our plans?"_

"_Yes, but she's old! Besides, she lives in these apartments!" the other said, "She must not want her home to be burned down."_

_Narutos eyes widened. They wanted to burn the apartments? But this was his only home!_

"_You idiot!" cried the other, "We never spoke of burning the apartments down in the meeting."_

"_Oh."_

"_Yes… Oh." The mustache man replied mockingly, "While I'm trying to do the best I can to get this plan to work without us being caught, you're off yelling your joy to everyone, putting everyone's eyes on _us_! I can't believe I'm related to you, much less your twin."_

"_Fine, if that's the way you think of me, then I quit." Replied the man, crossing his arms over his potbelly. The man trudged his feet, and Naruto felt the vibrations getting fainter as he left his apartment._

"_Stupid-" The man cut off what he was trying to say, as he heard something._

_Naruto felt the vibrations in the air, but without his ears, he could not interpret what they were trying to tell him._

"_Shit." The man with the mustache ran out of his bedroom, dropping the torch on the floor._

_Narutos problem was no longer the men, for they were so far away by now that he couldn't even feel the vibrations made from them anymore. His problem lay five feet in front of his face. Something that was slowly crawling its way over to him, to encase him within its embrace. Its warm and flickering embrace of heat and light. The embrace that promised only death. Naruto watched in horror as the fire slowly, lazily almost, crept its way across the floor, closer and closer to him._

_Naruto, in an instant, got up and ran towards his window, trying to pull it up._

_The reason he could not use the door, was because the flames had already climbed up onto the sides of the doorway, blocking him from exiting. It had seemed that the grease that was on the men was actually lamp oil, and highly flammable. It had seemed that they had already greased the doorways with the oil as they passed through the door, maybe on accident, maybe on purpose._

_Naruto realized something as he tugged at the window. He had not been able to afford the oil to grease the windows and fix them up, and so they had been left how they were. That had been a month ago. By now, the windows must have been so rusted, that it had sealed them shut. The window would not open for him, or for anyone else._

_He was trapped, without any hope or any ideas of escape._

"_Help!" The boy yelled, desperate to get out. Smoke began to filter into his lungs, as the fire began to quicken and spread, its heat becoming more intense with every passing second._

_Then, from the outside, he viewed a metal object hurling through the wind. Naruto ducked. He felt shards of glass cover his body from the window. The sun kissed blond shook himself, before standing. The window had been obliterated._

_A white weasel mask was floating on a branch on the other side of the street. The ANBU that had thrown the kunai jumped through the window, and landed behind Naruto._

_Naruto turned around, "ANBU-san?" He questioned. Of all the people he had known, he most respected the ANBU, after the Hokage, of course. They had saved his life many more times then he could remember, and he owed them so much._

_The ANBU didn't speak as he faced Naruto, they never did. The ANBU only grabbed Naruto, and put him on his shoulders like you would a sack of potatoes. With Naruto, the ANBU jumped outside the window, landing on the rooftop next to the apartments. As the ANBU left the scene with Naruto to go to the Hokage's office, Naruto could view one other ANBU staying behind. He saw that ANBU make seals, forming a water dragon, and putting out the flames._

* * *

It had turned out that the old lady the two men had spoken of went to go see the Hokage that night, and Sarutobi dispatched his ANBU just in time for them to capture the culprits –who seemed to be leaders of a group against Naruto- and save Naruto from the fire.

Naruto turned his body to the side, so he could face the window. He looked out, trying to spot even just a shimmer of a mask to comfort him. But he knew that the ninjas who were protecting him were very strong, and they most likely wouldn't let themselves be caught. After a full minute of looking, he sighed and began to turn away from the light of the moon, but a brief view stopped him. There was a mask, hovering above the same branch the other ANBU had stood on so long ago. Upon closer inspection, Naruto could tell it was a weasel mask.

Naruto smiled outwardly, showing the ANBU that he had seen him, and was giving thanks. The ANBU mask disappeared after that, and Naruto closed his eyes with the sense of protection. "Thank you, ANBU-san." He whispered to the animal spirit, before falling asleep.

By the morning, his dream would have been all but forgotten about.

* * *

**Thank you all for reading, review if you want too! ;P The next chapter will be longer, since this chapter is so short, and also because the next chapter will be the tenth one!!!!!!!!!!!! Signing out :D**


	10. I'm Sorry a notice

**Hello everyone! You all thought I was dead, didn't you? Well I was, I'm BACK FROM THE DEAD! :D I'm just happy to finally announce that I finally have a computer that I can update on. I want to thank all of you who still kept this story on alerts and for all of you who have tried to help me to the best of your abilities. I am thankful to have people such as you reviewing and reading my stories.**

**Before you all expect new updates, however, I will be doing a major remodeling of all my stories, as they could really use the help.**

**Thank you all again! I will see you all soon!**

**Silvera ;)**


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